‘Gosnell’ and the horror of abortion

Richard A. Sokerka

One of the most important stories never told by the mainstream media was that of Dr. Kermit Gosnell.

In May 2013, a jury found Gosnell guilty in the murder of three babies that had been born alive at his Philadelphia abortion clinic. According to the grand jury report, Gosnell killed them by severing their spinal cords with scissors. Investigators also discovered refrigerators full of aborted fetuses in his offices. He was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion, and 211 counts of violating an informed-consent law. Gosnell waived his right to appeal in exchange for an agreement not to seek the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The trial was largely ignored by the mainstream media. But Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, investigative journalists, made sure that lack of coverage of Gosnell’s horrific crimes were detailed in full in the bestseller, “Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer.” Yet, despite its successful sales, the New York Times kept it off its best-seller nonfiction list, according to the Federalist.

On Oct. 12, the movie, “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer,” based on the book, debuted in theaters across America. But not before its makers had fought through a myriad of obstacles thrown in their way by Hollywood and the mainstream media, which both wanted nothing to do with telling this true story because of their long-standing ties to supporting abortion rights in full.

When it was announced that a film would be made based on the book, Hollywood turned its collective back on it, but funds for its production were raised via crowdfunding, with close to 30,000 people donating more than $2.3 million in 45 days.

That good news was dampened when the movie’s producers began the promotion of the movie prior to its release. Almost every media outlet rejected commercials for the movie as did Facebook as the producers faced backlash for the movie’s “storyline.” Across the nation only a few movie reviews were written.

By not running ads for the movie or writing reviews about it, the mainstream media figured its de facto censorship of the movie would make it die a slow death, much like Gosnell’s victims in the womb did.

But, in what some would say is a miracle in this day and age, the movie made the top 10 list in the country on its opening weekend. It was the No. 1 independent movie of the weekend and No. 5 per screen average across the U.S., according to Phelim McAleer and his wife, Ann McElhinney, the movie’s producers.

Obviously, the film’s stunning box office performance is not due to any mainstream media coverage. It is due to the movie’s producers’ never-ending determination to make this movie, so it could no longer be ignored by the mainstream media.

It is a movie that if seen will change hearts and minds to embrace this truth: life in the womb is sacred.