Black anti-abortion pastors and activists speak out on Kermit Gosnell trial

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Who are these women? The poor, women of color, and those dependent on social services that will not provide funds for abortion. These are the type of women Kermit Gosnell often secured as clients.

“Women need and want abortions and will hurtle any barriers to get them,” Jennifer Boulanger, M.Ed., told theGrio. The director of communications for The Women’s Centers, a group of clinics where abortions are performed operating in various cities including Philadelphia, believes: “Gosnell was providing these services to a population who may not have known that there were other options.”

She and her colleagues fear that the media coverage that has trickled into the mainstream so far will further stigmatize abortion, making the process of seeking a competent abortion provider more taxing.

Plus, anti-abortionists may use any related sensationalism to create more political friction.

“I’m not sure how the Gosnell trial will affect the relationship of those groups who are pro-choice and anti-choice,” said Leah Chamberlain, an administrator at the Philadelphia Women’s Center, in a statement to theGrio. “I would hope that we could both rally behind the prosecution of someone who was providing subpar medical care to women. It doesn’t appear that this is the case and the anti’s are using the Gosnell trial as a means of lumping all abortion providers into the Gosnell category. From my observation this situation seems to be drawing clear divisions between the two camps and there’s a lot of yelling at each other rather than listening.”

Black anit-abortionists take a stronger stand

“We strongly feel that you do not help the population by killing off the population,” said King of pro-abortion rights beliefs.

She added that, “there are those who are fully supportive of abortion, and they feel that if they regulate or inspect, or enforce laws that require that they at least have the same modicum of care that a nail salon does, or a dentist office — and they don’t — that they feel as though if they do regulate, or enforce, and inspect that the conditions will cause those clinics to shut down. And then they tell the lie that Gosnell is a throwback to before Roe vs. Wade. He’s not. Because there are too many clinics and facilities operating like that in America right now.”

Gardner agreed saying, “every single abortion clinic should be inspected, because they’re all filthy, and they’re dirty,” adding “they don’t do any good at all to women and for women.”

Broden also said that Planned Parenthood is an institution that only performs abortions, although it is also known for providing various health services to both men and women. He believes patients seeking other types of care are referred to outside institutions, and challenged the media to investigate the organization.

Supporting statements for these claims by King, Broden and Gardner included information related by former staffers within clinics where abortions are performed, they said.

Black anti-abortionists: Certain abortion is not safe

The Black Pro-Life Coalition plans to continue spreading its perception that abortions are not safe.

Gardner said, “the whole abortion industry really has to be exposed for what it is so that people around the country understand exactly what’s happening, and that’s what we’re doing, and that’s how we are moving forward in the future.”

To such perspectives, Boulanger countered that it is critical to “recognize that women have always and will continue to do anything they need to do to end a pregnancy they do not want — including risk their lives, their well-being  and subject themselves to criminal providers,” such as Kermit Gosnell.

Abortion rights advocates move focus to women’s healthcare

To Boulanger and many others, Gosnell’s verdict is not a watershed moment in the anti-abortion/pro-abortion rights debate. It is a critical opportunity for American society to discuss the unequal access to quality health care many women experience, particularly poor women of color, not only when faced with the need to terminate a pregnancy, but also in various other important spheres of life, including when seeking to plan and sustain a family.

If handled responsibly, these abortion rights advocates hope the Gosnell trial spurs a meaningful examination of how American society treats women, leading to improvements in access to all forms of reproductive health care so that another “house of horrors” cannot occur.

Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on theGrio at @lexisb.

This article has been updated.