[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5053]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               WHO WILL SPEAK FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED WOMEN?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for 5 minutes.
  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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