Goznell

I hope you watched the Fox News special last night about Dr. Goznell and his clinic of horrors.  It was difficult to view at times, but this is reality. 

One of the most shocking parts of the one-hour special is when we learned that the rows of seats reserved for media were empty, except for the date when the defense attorney for Dr. Goznell gave his closing arguments.  Of course, it also has to be mentioned that his attorney called no witnesses whatsoever, no character witnesses, no expert witnesses, and not Dr. Goznell either.  Still, the media as a whole seemed much more interested in defending Dr. Goznell than in reporting the charges against him.

In case you did miss it, it will be on again on Sunday night at 9:00 p.m.  We are going to DVR it so I can see it again.  Last night I was so tired that without willing it to happen in any way, I fell asleep during part of it.  That happens sometimes, particularly when I stop crocheting and the clock reads somewhere between 9-10.  I should have continued crocheting!!!

The Goznell trial and ensuing discussion has opened the floodgates on the issue of abortion.  The trial has even converted pro-choice advocates to decidedly pro-life advocates.  The gravity of what happened in the clinic is something that one would hope is the exception, but sadly enough, it probably isn't.  Even during testimony to Congress, it became obvious that a pro-choice lobbyist could not grasp the moral issue of a baby born alive during a botched abortion.

In a sense, aren't all abortions botched?  Something is done to interrupt a natural occurrence in life.  The pregnant woman's body is flooded with hormones that guide the process of the baby's growth.  Changes occur so fast after conception that pregnancy tests today are reliable very, very early.  And then it's like the body is slammed against a brick wall.

When I worked at Akron City Hospital (now Summa) many years ago, a co-worker (let's call her Sue) had a younger sister whom she was raising.  My co-worker's father had died of cancer at a young age, but then her mother was killed in a horrific car accident.  Sue went to the hospital and saw a sheet covering the body, and her mother's beautiful red hair spilling out beyond the gurney.  She knew at that moment that their lives were changed forever.

Sue's sister was a bit of a wild child, and she rebelled against Sue's attempts at raising her.  The final straw was when she ran away from their apartment.  Sue was beside herself.  Then her sister finally came home, but something wasn't right.  Her sister was really ill and running a high fever; she was in terrible pain.  Sue took her to the hospital and they began to treat her for massive infection.  Her botched abortion gave them little choice but to perform a complete hysterectomy.  She was maybe 18; I can't remember for sure.  In fact, I had forgotten all about this until I sat down to write this posting.  I've completely lost track of Sue but we were close during the time we worked together.  I can only hope that by being able to talk to someone, it helped Sue with her many burdens.  And I pray that Sue found peace in her life.

My final thought for today is that my heart breaks for all of the victims of abortion, and that includes the women too.  The Rachel Project (hopeafterabortion.com) is one program that recognizes that the end of the pregnancy does not mean an end to the problems for the woman.  Sometimes it is just the beginning of them, and often the longer that it is has been since the abortion, the more that the damage is psychologically layered, making it hard to penetrate.  Forgiveness is there for a woman who chose this route, and how can we not offer that?  God can forgive any sin, no matter how terrible, and make it so that our sins are as far from us as the east is from the west.

And that is peace, the kind that I wish for Sue and her sister.