WASHINGTON — The horror of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s trial has not changed her strategy but helped to strength her message, pro-life Susan B. Anthoney List president Margorie Dannenfelser explained to reporters and Capitol Hill staff Friday.
“In debates with abortion activists, it was easy for the other side to get away with saying, ‘There are only one set of rights to consider,'” Dannenfelser explained of the post-Gosnell landscape.
Now, people must consider there are another set of rights, those of the unborn child, she said.
Dannenfelser posited that after legislators in states that do not have a ban on third trimester abortions see the horrors of the Gosnell trial, they will more seriously consider such legislation.
The SBA List president explained further that although the group’s message has not been changed by Gosnell — who charged with the murder of seven babies born alive and killed following botched abortions and one woman — the trial could potentially strengthen its case.
“If anything, it amplifies our arguments; it doesn’t change them, and it strengthens our ability to succeed, rather than causing us to change a basic approach or strategy,” Dannenfelser said.
“I think a lot has been an acknowledgment that the terms change, we clearly ought to be asking questions about the fetal pain legislation — that has always been a strategy for us, a goal, to pass fetal pain legislation on the federal level and on the state level,” she said. “There is more momentum.”
Dannenfelser’s comments came following a viewing of a 21-minute independent film about the Gosnell Women’s Medical Society Clinic — “3801 Lancaster” — which went into the macabre details about the Gosnell clinic and featured interviews with former patients and neighbors.
The SBA List president further pressed pro-choice advocates who have pushed against born-alive protections and more clinic regulations.
“Where were you before?” Dannenfelser asked of pro-advocates. “Should it take a moment like this to encourage you to step up and frankly act in the best interest of human beings and women and unborn children.”
Pennsylvania Family Institute president Michael Geer, also in attendance, further decried the inaction of government regulators to enforce the law in Pennsylvania and took on pro-choice activists who believe Gosnell to be an anomaly, by citing news reports about abortion provider Steven Brigham and Soleiman Soli.