Now that Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty of murder, it’s time to turn to the politicians who looked the other way and permitted these atrocities.
National Review’s Kathryn Lopez just interviewed J.D. Mullane, the reporter who has covered this story closer than anybody. Here’s an excerpt:
LOPEZ: How did Pennsylvania ever let this happen?
MULLANE: Pa.’s ex-governor, Tom Ridge is, to me, Gosnell’s chief enabler. Ridge is a pro-choice Republican and it was his administration that decided to halt annual inspections of Pennsylvania’s abortion clinics. This happened because the Ridge administration felt shoddier clinics like Gosnell’s would be forced to close if inspectors from the state department of health came through and did their jobs. Closing clinics would create a “barrier” for women seeking abortions, and Ridge didn’t want that. Though Tom Ridge is a chatty guy, he has maintained radio silence on Gosnell. Now you know why.
He’s right. Consider this from the grand jury report:
“After 1993…the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor Casey to Governor Ridge, officials concluded that inspections would be “putting a barrier up to women” seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased, even though, as Gosnell proved, that meant both women and babies would pay.” (Page 9)
As the Susan B. Anthony List observed, “When Governor Bob Casey, a Democrat and a longtime pro-life champion, was replaced by Gov. Tom Ridge, a pro-choice Republican, Kermit Gosnell was given free rein.”