White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama cannot take a position on the trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell since it is ongoing.
“I’ll say two things. One, the president is aware of this. Two, the president does not and cannot take a position on an ongoing trial, so I won’t as well,” Carney told reporters Monday when asked about Gosnell’s trial.
“Certainly, the things that you hear and read about this case are unsettling,” he noted. “But I can’t comment further on an ongoing legal proceeding.”
Gosnell is on trial for the murders of seven babies in illegal late term abortions and one female patient. The trial is going into its fifth week, the details and allegations have been horrific, including cutting the necks of babies born alive, storing baby feet in jars and extremely unclean conditions.
When pressed about Obama’s vote as an Illinois state lawmaker against a law to provide medical care to a baby born due to a botched abortion, Carney also dodged.
“Well, again, you’re relating it to a case that I can’t comment on and the president can’t comment on,” Carney said. “I would simply say that the president’s position on choice is very clear. His position on the basic principle — that as President Clinton said, abortions ought to be safe, legal and rare — is very clear. I just don’t have comment that could shed light on this specific case.”
Last March, Obama weighed in on the death of Trayvon Martin after the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the case.
“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said at the time.
The Washington Post reports that Carney initially had refused to comment on the case, explaining that the White House was “not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter.”