The Philadelphia Police and FBI raided the 3801 Lancaster
building looking for evidence of illegal prescription drugs
sales, but what they found would later be described as a
house of horrors. Policemen and detectives who first arrived
to inspect the chaotic clinic saw clutter everywhere, missing
ceiling tiles, dried blood on the floor, frozen fetal remains
and a heavy “chemical smell,” almost like a morgue, said one
officer. “This was different than any job we’ve ever
handled,” said another.
The documentary “3801 Lancaster: American Tragedy” tells of
the life and criminal trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell;
the film was shown at Regal Potomac Yard Stadium 16 in
Alexandria Nov. 24. Though the message of the film is
inherently pro-life, the details of the case are relayed
without bias through the eyes of a Philadelphia crime
reporter, Philadelphia policemen and former Gosnell patients.
Though a difficult subject matter, the films stays away from
being too graphic or heavy-handed. It is a compelling look at
the failure of government agencies leading to one man’s
ability to wreak havoc on the lives of countless women and
unborn babies.
Interspersed between testimonies and facts of the case, the
film follows the journey of former Gosnell patient Desiree
Manning as she travels to testify against the doctor. When
she was too far along to get an abortion at a clinic in
Hagerstown, Md., Manning was referred to Gosnell, who was
known for performing late-term abortions. She shares her
story with the hope that nothing like this will ever happen
again.
Manning and several other women spoke in the film of the
callous, painful and physically harmful treatment they
received at the hands of Gosnell. “By the time we made it to
my house, my car and clothes were totally bloody,” said one
girl, whose face intentionally was hidden in shadows. One
young African-American woman tearfully told the camera, “As a
child I was taught that police and firefighters and doctors
are people you can trust. You can’t even trust them anymore.”
As a result of her abortion, she will no longer be able to
have children, like many of the women Gosnell treated.
The most chilling part of the film is the phone interviews
with Gosnell from prison. While speaking to the filmmakers,
he calmly defended his decision to snip the necks of
potentially viable unborn babies. At the end, he reads a poem
he wrote about the importance of abortion doctors, who save
society from unwanted children, and save the children
themselves from lives of crime, drug addiction and prison.
His remarks epitomize how abortion is twisted to be seen as a
societal good.
But the greatest moment of transformation is when the
policemen and detective see the humanity of the unborn baby,
realizing perhaps for the first time that the fetus is not a
blob of tissue. “I didn’t think they would look as human as
they did,” said one policeman of the 45 unborn babies they
recovered from the clinic. “They look like my two little
girls.”
Throughout the film, clips of the grand jury testimony are
shown on the screen, revealing the decades-long failure of
Pennsylvania state officials to shut down or even inspect
Gosnell’s clinic. From the clinic’s opening in 1979 to 1993,
the facility was inspected only three times; multiple
violations were found, though no one followed-up to ensure
they were corrected. Soon, however, the clinic was subject to
no examinations at all. According to grand jury testimony,
“With the change of administration from Governor Casey to
Governor Ridge, officials concluded that inspections would be
‘putting a barrier up to women’ seeking abortions.” Still
complaints came pouring in.
“A doctor from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
hand-delivered a complaint, advising the department that
numerous patients he had referred for abortions came back
from Gosnell with the same venereal disease (from
unsterilized equipment). The medical examiner of Delaware
County informed the department that Gosnell had performed an
illegal abortion on a 14-year-old girl carrying a 30-week-old
baby. And the department received official notice that a
woman named Karnamaya Mongar had died at Gosnell’s hands. Yet
not one of these alarm bells – not even Mrs. Mongar’s death –
prompted the department to look at Gosnell or the Women’s
Medical Society,” read the grand jury testimony.
Today, Gosnell sits behind bars, sentenced to a life in
prison with no possibility of parole. Several of his
employees, all of whom were unlicensed, were charged with
various crimes. No one in the Pennsylvania Department of
Health or Department of State has been charged, the film read
at the close. The documentary ends with an implicit challenge
for governments and people to keep abortionists accountable,
particularly if they treat the marginalized in society.
As the grand jury said, “We think the reason no one acted is
because the women in question were poor and of color, because
the victims were infants without identities, and because the
subject was the political football of abortion.”
To learn more about, Kermit Gosnell, the documentary “3801
Lancaster: American Tragedy” or to host a viewing, visit here.
