Texas Lawmakers Demand Probe of Gosnell-Like Abortionist
Warning: This article contains graphic material
Texas lawmakers have written to agencies calling for an investigation of a Kermit Gosnell-like late-term abortion doctor, Douglas Karpen, three of whose former employees have seen him killing babies born alive during abortion procedures, often by "twisting the head off the neck."
"We strongly support a full investigation into the allegations of Dr. Karpen. As a state, we must ensure that the health and safety of women and children are being protected by laws and regulations in place," State Rep. Phil King wrote to the agencies.
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The letter, co-signed by 20 Texas lawmakers, was sent along with the recording of an interview with three of Karpen's former employees who admitted to participating in numerous instances in which babies were being born alive and killed during abortion procedures at his clinic in Houston, Texas.
The interview was conducted and recorded by Life Dynamics Inc., a Denton, Texas-based national pro-life organization.
One of the former employee told Life Dynamics, "Most of the time we would see him (Karpen) where the fetus would come completely out and of course the fetus would still be alive because it was still moving, of course, you could see the stomach breathing and … um … that's when he would do his … um… he would snip the spine, as they were saying this doctor did and of course the soft spot was one of the spots that he … um … would take one of the forceps, or what is it called … the dilators and stick it down the soft spot of the fetuses head."
Karpen would kill babies by jamming some kind of instrument into the soft spot, "or actually twisting the head off the neck, kind of with his own bare hands ... Sometimes he would go through the stomach as well ... He would like, force it through the stomach ... the instrument ... anything that he could get to ... I normally saw either the snipping of the spine or the introduction of the instrument in the soft spot of the fetus normally or twisting of the neck."
King sent the letter, along with the DVD of the interview, to Lt. Richard Kleczynski at the Homicide Division of the Houston Police Department; Mari Robinson, executive director of the Texas Medical Board; and David L. Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
"If the abortion lobby thinks this issue is going away, they are literally whistling past the graveyard," Mark Crutcher, president of Life Dynamics, said in a statement this week.
"One thing that was often overlooked about the conviction and life sentence recently given to abortionist Kermit Gosnell, is that eight of his employees also received long prison sentences for their roles in what he was doing," Crutcher added. "Today, the abortion lobby is in 'damage control mode' and telling anyone who will listen that Gosnell is an aberration and that every other abortionist in America is Mr. Clean. But the people who actually work in these places know better, and they are beginning to fear that they could be the next ones dragged into a courtroom wearing handcuffs and leg irons."
Gosnell, a late-term abortion provider in Pennsylvania, was found guilty last month for involuntary manslaughter in the death of patient Karnamaya Mongar who died at his abortion clinic, and three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of four babies allegedly born alive inside the Women's Medical Society abortion clinic in West Philadelphia that he operated for 40 years.
Gosnell, 72, made a deal with prosecutors last month to give up all of his appeals and take life in prison, so that he will not face the death penalty. According to his defense attorney, Jack McMahon, the abortion doctor wanted to spare his family from having to enter the courtroom for the penalty phase, specifically his children, one of whom is in high school.
Judge Jeffrey Minehart has added a third life term to Gosnell's sentence. In exchange for giving up his appeals, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has agreed to Gosnell serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole. He will now serve three life sentences, and will die in prison.
The federal drug charges against Gosnell will be handled by McMahon and that trial is expected in September, unless a deal is reached outside of court.
Gosnell profited $10,000 to $15,000 a day at his late-term abortion clinic – not including the $200,000 he made from writing 2,300 illegal prescriptions for OxyContin and other addictive drugs
The lawmakers who co-signed the letter sent by King include Linda Harper Brown, Dan Flynn, Jonathan Stickland, Rob Orr, Cindy Burkett, Stefanie Carter, James White, Allen Fletcher, Jodie Laubeneberg, Bryan Hughes, Bill Zedler, Jim Murphy, Ron Simmons, Craig Goldman, Charles Perry, Geanie Morrison, Ed Thompson, Harvey Hilderbran and Larry Phillips.
