Evangelical Journalist Kirsten Powers Reflects on Groundbreaking Kermit Gosnell Column
Political columnist and evangelical Kirsten Powers, who helped raise attention about late-term abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, recently spoke about her decision to write the fateful article on the issue back in April 2013 when other mainstream media outlets had failed to do so.
In a brief interview with Carl Cannon of "Real Clear Politics," Powers reflected on the column, which was published in USAToday on April 11, 2013 with the tagline: "We've forgotten what belongs on Page 1."
Powers, who has a regular column with USAToday, writes for The Daily Beast, and serves as a political pundit on Fox News, told Cannon in her recent interview that she first heard of Gosnell's murder trial in 2013 from an old college friend who was staunchly pro-life and had been following the case. Powers admitted to Cannon that she had been dismissive of Gosnell's case at first, assuming that it would be national news if any of the abortion doctor's charges had any truth behind them.
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"If something like this was going on I would know about it; [there's] no way," Powers reflected on what she thought when her friend first told her of the Gosnell case. Powers went on to say that when she first started reading articles regarding Gosnell written in local newspapers, she thought "this just can't be true."
"I was just so horrified by it, and I just couldn't believe it wasn't being covered. I googled it and it wasn't [being covered.] I emailed [the USAToday editor] and said 'we've got to do something on this,' thinking he would say no, because it was just a little hot," Powers said. Ultimately, her editor agreed to let her write the article, saying it had to be ready within two hours.
"It was a real scramble and a real high wire act, getting it done … it was pretty harrowing," Powers said.
Powers' original article both outlined Gosnell's case and also questioned how and why the mainstream media had ignored the case. Powers proved to be the first major media journalist to report on the Gosnell trial, thus putting the now infamous trial on the map.
"Let me state the obvious. This should be front page news," Powers wrote in the original USAToday column.
"You don't have to oppose abortion rights to find late-term abortion abhorrent or to find the Gosnell trial eminently newsworthy. This is not about being 'pro-choice' or 'pro-life.' It's about basic human rights," she continued. "The deafening silence of too much of the media, once a force for justice in America, is a disgrace."
Gosnell, who became known for running a "House of Horrors" late-term abortion clinic in Philadelphia, was found guilty in May of first degree murder of three newborn babies and the involuntary manslaughter of one of his patients. He is now serving a life sentence without parole.
