Who Will Speak for Underprivileged Women?

Floor Speech

Mr. PERRY. I'm wondering who will speak for underprivileged women, not only in the United States, but very particularly in Philadelphia.

I'm here today to talk about an uncomfortable subject which no one seems to want to talk about. It is the Gosnell trial in Philadelphia. The media doesn't want to talk about it--not NBC, CBS, ABC, CNBC, not Fox, and not the leaders of our Nation, not the President. It is uncomfortable, and I'd ask you to bear with me while I read to you some of the testimony that comes from this trial because I feel we must.

This man is charged with killing seven babies and murdering one woman. The prosecutors believe Mr. Gosnell killed hundreds of infants and destroyed the related records so we will never know. Mr. Gosnell ``induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord.'' He called it ``snipping.'' Sherry West, one of his clinic employees, testified on Monday that one newborn at the clinic was 18 to 24 inches long when it was killed:

There were scores more. At least one other mother died following an abortion in which Gosnell punctured her uterus and then sent her home. He left an arm and a leg of a partially aborted fetus in the womb of another woman, and then told her he did not need to see her when she became sick days later, having developed a temperature of 106 degrees. He perforated bowels, cervixes, and uteruses. He left women sterile.

The clinic reeked of animal urine. Furniture and blankets were stained with blood, and instruments were not properly sterilized, according to the grand jury report.

These women are the most vulnerable women in our society, and they were, indeed, most likely at their darkest hour. They went to this clinic to seek help, and they did not know that this man was not qualified nor was his staff qualified to perform any of the procedures that they performed:

There were bags and bottles holding aborted fetuses scattered throughout the building. There were jars lining shelves with severed feet that he kept for no medical purpose.

These women came because they were probably the product of violent home lives, where they felt they had no options. They came to this care provider, who was essentially unregulated. This does fall into the purview of the United States Attorney General because these patients oftentimes traveled across State lines.

This is an isolated incident. It would be disingenuous to think that all caregivers fall into this category because we know that they do not. But we also know that if there is one, there may likely be others, and that is, indeed, sad.

Prosecutors say that none of Gosnell's staff were licensed nurses or doctors and that a 15-year-old student performed anesthesia with potentially lethal narcotics.

Abortions after the 24th week are illegal in Pennsylvania. However, Gosnell allegedly aborted and killed babies in the sixth and seventh month of pregnancy and charged more for bigger babies. He also took extra precautions with white women from the suburbs, according to a grand jury report. He allegedly ushered them into a slightly cleaner area because he thought they would be more likely to file a complaint.

The abortions of the biggest babies allegedly were scheduled for Sundays, when the clinic was closed. The only person allowed to assist with such cases was

Gosnell's wife, Pearl Gosnell. She was one of nine employees charged with him as well in this, and she has not obtained a lawyer at this time. He allegedly took the files home with him from the patients that he dealt with and then disposed of them.

I would say this. It gives me great pain and sorrow to have this entered and read into the Record. But since the media outlets refuse to cover this because it's uncomfortable, because it might not meet with their agenda, and because many of the leaders of this country refuse to discuss it, I think it's important that we have it read into the Record so that this history and their stories don't remain untold--the stories of these women in their most desperate hours, and the stories of these little babies that will never know the privilege of being an American, that will never realize their dream.

I would make this charge today: Mr. President, your silence is deafening. Are you so blind, are you so intractable, are you so extreme that you yourself can't even call this out for what it is, something that is reprehensible? Pro-life or pro-choice, this is reprehensible. As a father, as I am, of two little girls, it is worthy of your attention, it is worthy of your leadership, it is worthy of your direction.

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