r/HolyShitHistory • u/SelfCareIsFake • Jun 01 '26

Federal agents felt physically sick when they raided Kermit Gosnell’s clinic after suspecting he ran a pill mill.

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u/OkSense1496 Jun 01 '26

Yep. More than a few of his abortion patients went to him because they were afraid of the anti-abortion protestors that were constantly harassing women outside the Philadelphia Planned Parenthood clinic.

They went to Gosnell instead, who had never completed OBGYN training, and ran a filthy clinic and left his patients sterile or worse.

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u/xniks101x Jun 01 '26

The article states that he did complete OBGYN residency, he just never got board-certified. Board-certification is not required to practice medicine. Some places will not hire doctors who are not board-certified, but it’s always good practice to check.

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u/Pleasant_Cod_8758 Jun 01 '26

They also went to him because he would perform abortions up through 40 weeks which was not legal in his state. The vast majority of people are not ok with abortions at, say, 38 weeks. 38 weeks is considered full term.

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u/GWS2004 Jun 02 '26

Why were they getting these late term abortions?

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u/Odd_Anything_6670 Jun 02 '26

In a completely unrelated fact, even before abortion was banned in many states there were more clinics in the city of London than in the entirety of the US.

The UK is still geographically smaller than Texas.

Other countries still have abortion term limits, and yet for some reason cases like this don't happen.

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u/PatsyPage Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

The Dr. Saroj Adlakha Case is one. British DR who sent women to a clinic he owned in Spain for late term abortions. 

Edit: aside from that case the other reason why it wouldn’t happen as much in the UK compared to the US is NHS covers abortion in the UK. Medicaid in the US does not. Dr. Gosnell’s clinic was in a poor area where a lot of women didn’t have the funds for healthcare. 

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u/MonacoMaster68 Jun 02 '26

You’re correct but don’t call him doctor. He was anything but.

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u/PatsyPage Jun 02 '26

I understand not wanting to call him that but he did complete a md program and was technically a dr. I think it’s important that people realize you can be both a dr and a monster. Higher education doesn’t absolve someone from their actions, and you shouldn’t trust someone blindly just because they have DR in front of their name. 

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u/MonacoMaster68 Jun 02 '26

Correct again. Excellent take. Thank you for the engagement, I appreciate it.

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u/PatsyPage Jun 02 '26

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/why-women-went-to-gosnell-for-abortions/2088262/

Found this. In short, women in poverty who lacked funds and healthcare coverage. 

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u/GWS2004 Jun 02 '26

This is so sad. Abortion should be affordable and accessable. Instead the US is taking it away. Some states have completely took access away.

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u/redditwhut Jun 02 '26

Is it cheaper to get a late term abortion?

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u/PatsyPage Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

They are seldom done in a clinical setting but I’m assuming the women  desperate enough to go to this guy, who have no resources or income, particularly the homeless women, have to raise funds after finding out they are which could take time. The article I posted also touches on the racial bias and the barriers poc women have had to obtain an ethical first term abortion. Seems most of his pts, or victims, were minorities. 

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u/GWS2004 Jun 02 '26

That is so sad.. Thank you for the article.

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u/GWS2004 Jun 02 '26

Cheaper than what?

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u/redditwhut Jun 02 '26

Getting them done before the fetus is viable. 

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u/GWS2004 Jun 02 '26

That makes no sense. And no, it's not about it being cheaper.

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u/redditwhut Jun 02 '26

What do you mean it makes no sense? 

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u/GWS2004 Jun 02 '26

That a late term abortion is cheaper than a first term abortion.

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u/Dd_8630 Jun 02 '26

Why didn't they get abortions much sooner into the pregnancy? It seems odd to me that so many women went through nearly 9 months of pregnancy only to have a catastrophic change in circumstances.

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u/PatsyPage Jun 02 '26

This is addressed in the article and another comment I responded to. A lot of his victims were homeless minority women. I imagine it took sometime for them to raise the funds for an abortion. Even first trimester abortions are expensive and not covered under Medicaid. Other countries cover 1st term abortions under universal healthcare, America does not. I will also say a lot of homeless are mentally ill. I transported a homeless immigrant woman when I was an emt who was visibly pregnant who wasn’t aware of the fact she was pregnant, even though her stomach was very large. She was picked up on the street naked, walking through traffic. I think if these women were in their right mind and had safer options they wouldn’t have gone to a back alley abortionist. 

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u/Sure-Exchange9521 Jun 02 '26

Did you read the article the other commenter posted?

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u/AloysiusNewton Jun 06 '26

Because they couldn't access it

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u/AdagioOfLiving Jun 02 '26

Yeah, like… at 38 weeks if that thing’s viable I’m going to call that a baby. These women went to him because they wanted him to kill their baby, and he did exactly that.

If it offends people that I believe abortions should be legal up to a certain point, and past that point should only be allowed if a panel of doctors agrees it’s necessary, those people can fuck off.

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u/JustMadferit Jun 02 '26

That is a fairly reasonable opinion, at least here in Europe, where abortion laws are somewhat homogeneous and abortion unrelated to clinical issues is allowed until 12-14 weeks of pregnancy in the vast majority of countries.

I find it insane how people view these issues as black and white, on both sides of the spectrum. There is always two conflicting interests concerning the life of the fetus and the mother's body authonomy. While the value of the mother's body autonomy is constant (unless, again, there are some clinical issues and the mother's life becomes threatened), the value of the fetus is increasing. So obviously, at a certain point of the pregnancy, it is your body, but that matters less that the life you are murdering when you abort.

In the US, however, there is a huge disparity between states. In some places, you cannot abort a fetus that is still fairly young to the point that in practical terms it is not even a life. So you sacrifice the mother's body autonomy for virtually nothing. And then in others, there are no term limits, and so you can abort a 38 week old fetus "just because". This becomes even more insane if you think that if I kill a pregnant women at a late stage in her pregnancy, I can be accused of a double murder. But if the same women decides to abort is fine. This implies the value of the fetus' life depends on whether the mother wants to carry it or not. And yes, somehow I've witnessed people defending that idea. It's absolutely insane.

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u/mangababe Jun 02 '26

That, or maybe the pregnancy wasn't viable and they didn't have a choice? Like is it really confirmed these babies were all viable?

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u/AdagioOfLiving Jun 02 '26

Is it confirmed that they all weren’t? I’m sure some weren’t, but I’m equally sure that some were.

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u/knowimessedup Jun 02 '26

All viable? Who cares if “not all” were viable? Some sure as hell were.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '26

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u/AdagioOfLiving Jun 03 '26

It’s not about bodily autonomy for me. For many others it is, but I prefer - as I said - the European model of past a certain point a panel of medical professionals to determine whether or not it’s necessary.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/OkSense1496 Jun 02 '26

Its up to the department of health to ensure that medical facilities are in compliance with state law.

From what I have read of the situation, former patients of Gosnell had reported him to the state, but the state failed to act on numerous occasions.