THE HYPOCRISY OF THE LEFT

After the terror attack by ISIS in Orlando, we have been deluged by demands from the loony left to “DO SOMETHING” about the terrible epidemic of gun deaths in America!  A civilized nation simply cannot condone the decimation caused by guns.  Which got me to thinking.  Putting aside the inconvenient second amendment to the constitution, in relative terms, how bad is the “gun tragedy?” 

In 2013, the estimated number of murders in the nation was 14,196. There were 4.5 murders per 100,000 people.  (https://www.fbi.gov/...us/.../crime.../2013/cr...)  Of those murders, “only” 8,454 were by firearm. (2.7/100K)

(https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2009-2013.xls)  

Please note:  I do not mean to suggest that even one gun death is not a tragedy for the victim or his or her family. When the press marveled at the extremely low number of deaths during the 1^st Gulf war, I told someone who mentioned this “wonderful” result that “For the nation, the losses were, indeed, light, but for the families of our honored dead, they were crushing.”  I write only to point out the hypocrisy of the left.

To put all of this into context, let’s look at some statistics from the United States government (FBI and CDC).  The leading reported causes of death in the United States in 2013, the last year for which they have “final, complete” statistics were:

1.  Heart disease: 614,348
2.  Cancer: 591,699
3.  Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 147,101
4.  Accidents (unintentional injuries): 136,053
5.  Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 133,103
6.  Alzheimer's disease: 93,541
7.  Diabetes: 76,488
8.  Influenza and Pneumonia: 55,227
9.  Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis: 48,146
10. Intentional self-harm (suicide): 42,773

(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm)

The next 5 leading causes of death in 2013 were:

11. Septicemia
12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
13. Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease (hypertension)
14. Parkinson’s disease
15. Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids

Gun deaths did not come anywhere close to the top 15.

Then came Monday’s news that the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional the Texas law requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as other ambulatory outpatient centers.  In so doing, they also probably got rid of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s identical statute.

And the left—especially the Democrat Party’s anointed nominee—were ecstatic!  That was when the hypocrisy of the left, of the pro-death bunch—really hit home for me.

You see, heart disease is not the leading cause of death in the United States—nowhere near.  In 2012, the last year for which the CDC has complete statistics (or as complete as possible-- California, Maryland, and New Hampshire refuse to report abortion statistics to the CDC),699,202 abortions were performed in the United States. (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6410a1.htm?s_cid=ss6410a1_e)

699,202.  

699,202 preventable deaths.  Nearly 100,000 more deaths than caused by heart disease.  Over 100,000 more deaths than caused by cancer. And 691,000 more than murder by firearm.

But “hypocrisy’, you say?  Well, let’s look at some background.

For over 40 years, the pro-abortion, pro-death faction has claimed that one of the benefits of Roe v. Wade is that women need to be protected from the pre-Roe back-alley butcher shops where hacks performed unsafe “coat-hanger” abortions.

 

They have been successful in their lie, so successful, in fact, that the United States government has carried their water for them by lying to the American people.  This is nothing new for the liberal, “we know better what is good for you poor stupid people who want to ‘cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like [you] or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment…”

But their true colors have come out this week. They do not care about women’s health—they just want to continue to run their highly profitable abortion mills with as few costs and safe-guards as possible. And the less “costly” protections for patients, the better.

In 2011, the nation was shocked and sickened by reports from Philadelphia about Kermit Gosnell, MD. Dr Gosnell operated an abortion shop that was reported to be more like  an1890s abattoir.  According to the Grand jury:

When the team members entered the clinic, they were appalled, describing it to the Grand Jury as 'filthy,' 'deplorable,' 'disgusting,' 'very unsanitary, very outdated, horrendous,' and 'by far, the worst' that these experienced investigators had ever encountered. There was blood on the floor. A stench of urine filled the air. A flea-infested cat was wandering through the facility, and there were cat feces on the stairs. Semi-conscious women scheduled for abortions were moaning in the waiting room or the recovery room, where they sat on dirty recliners covered with blood-stained blankets. All the women had been sedated by unlicensed staff – long before Gosnell arrived at the clinic – and staff members could not accurately state what medications or dosages they had administered to the waiting patients. Many of the medications in inventory were past their expiration dates… surgical procedure rooms were filthy and unsanitary… resembling 'a bad gas station restroom.' Instruments were not sterile. Equipment was rusty and outdated. Oxygen equipment was covered with dust, and had not been inspected. The same corroded suction tubing used for abortions was the only tubing available for oral airways if assistance for breathing was needed…"

According to the grand jury report, patients were given labor-inducing drugs by staff who had no medical training. Once labor began, the patient would be placed on a toilet. After the fetus fell into the toilet, it would be fished out, so as not to clog the plumbing. In the recovery room, patients were seated on dirty recliners covered in blood-stained blankets.  Prosecutors alleged that Gosnell had not been certified in either gynecology or obstetrics.  The Grand Jury estimated that Gosnell's practice "took in $10,000 to $15,000 a night" additional to income from his exceedingly high level of prescriptions, performing abortions, whether the patients ultimately wanted them or not. (One “patient” who was 15 at the time, told an ABC reporter Girl age 15, when she was accompanied by relative to Gosnell’s office, she told Gosnell she changed her mind about the abortion. Gosnell allegedly got upset, ripped off the patient's clothing, and forcibly restrained her. The patient later stated that Gosnell told her "This is the same care that I would give to my own daughter." She regained consciousness 12 hours later at her aunt's home, the abortion having been completed against her will.)

Gosnell was ultimately convicted of the murder of three infants who were born alive during attempted abortion procedures, one count of involuntary manslaughter of one of his abortion patients, Although he was not charged with other deaths, the Grand jury opined that 

We believe, given the manner in which Gosnell operated, that he killed the vast majority of babies that he aborted after 24 weeks. We cannot, however, recommend murder charges for all of these cases. In order to constitute murder, the act must involve a baby who was born alive. Because files were falsified or removed from the facility and possibly destroyed, we cannot substantiate all of the individual cases in which charges might otherwise have resulted.

More shocking was the revelation that twenty years earlier, officials in the Pennsylvania Department of Health had been aware of the abysmal facts but had done nothing.   The Grand jury reported:

Janice Staloski of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, who personally participated in the 1992 site visit, but decided to let Gosnell slide on the violations that were already evident then. She eventually rose to become director of the division that was supposed to regulate abortion providers, but never looked at Gosnell despite specific complaints from lawyers, a doctor, and a medical examiner. After she was nonetheless promoted, her successor as division director, Cynthia Boyne, failed to order an investigation of the clinic even when Karnamaya Mongar died there. Senior legal counsel Kenneth Brody insisted that the department had no legal obligation to monitor abortion clinics, even though it exercised such a duty until the [pro-abortion Republican Governor Tom] Ridge administration, and exercised it again as soon as Gosnell became big news. The agency’s head lawyer, chief counsel Christine Dutton, defended the department’s indifference: 'People die,' she said.

Wow.  Shades of Hillary Clinton's remarks about Benghazi:  "What does it matter...?"

As a result of Gosnell, Pennsylvania adopted Senate Bill 732,  that places abortion clinics under the same health and safety regulations as other outpatient surgical centers.  It was essentially the same law which the Supreme Court found to be unconstitutional on Monday.  Among those who supported the bill was Democrat Margo L. Davidson, whose cousin Semika Shaw died as a result of procedures done by Gosnell. Davidson specifically linked her support for the additional regulations to her cousin's death, which she attributed to poor medical practices.

Predictably, the pro-death “Women’s Legal Project”, self-identified as “ a group of feminist attorneys devoted to equality and justice” opposed the bill and in Monday’s action, was one of the amici in the action.  Their complaint about SB 732, only a short-time after the Gosnell case hit the news, was “SB 732 requires safe, accessible abortion providers to comply with the burdensome and costly regulations now reserved for ambulatory surgical facilities, even though abortion is much safer and simpler than surgeries commonly conducted in ambulatory surgical centers.”  (That must have been comforting news to the victims of Kermit Gosnell.)

So, they’ve gotten their way.  Bring on as many Kermit Gosnell’s as possible, so long as we can keep on killing the unborn for profit.

Of course, you will only hear about the wonderful caring staff members who are helping women through this difficult time in their lives.

These are the same folks who tell you that the scourge of guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens is a “national tragedy.”  Soooo, complain to me about 8,500 gun murders.  I’ll see you that 8,500 and raise you 691,000 more intentional deaths.  

All in!