The name “Gosnell” continues to disturb the American psyche. When the nation’s most prolific serial killer appeared before a court, there was a virtual news blackout. When a book was published about Gosnell’s offences, the bestseller lists tried to hide how well the book was selling. And now, after a film has been made about Gosnell, it is not reviewed, even though at the box office it is one of the top grossing films currently on release.
Why? One word: abortion.
Kermit Gosnell was an abortionist working in Philadelphia. In 2010, an initial police investigation into his suspected criminal activity of selling prescriptions to drug dealers uncovered something far worse. What was taking place at Gosnell’s abortion facility was so barbaric that police dubbed it a House of Horrors.
Gosnell and his various accomplices were brought before a court. In 2013, they faced eight counts of murder, 24 felony counts of performing illegal abortions beyond the state of Pennsylvania’s 24-week time limit, and 227 misdemeanour counts of violating the 24-hour informed consent law.
No doubt one would assume that all of this would be duly reported by the media, both local and national, and that a suitable outcry would follow. In fact, the opposite occurred. Initially, at least, no reporters were sent to cover the trial. A picture was tweeted showing rows of empty press benches. This shamed newspapers and television networks into some coverage of the trial, but by then this seemed a token gesture. The court case and all its gruesome details never received the media coverage that was their due.
Matters might have ended there had it not been for an Irish investigative journalist, Phelim McAleer. In Philadelphia on other business, McAleer attended the Gosnell trial by chance. While in the courtroom, he could hardly believe what he was hearing. But, even more, he could not believe that there were no journalists there to report it.
This experience was to start McAleer and his wife, Ann McElhinney, also an Irish journalist, on an odyssey. In January 2017, they published what would become a bestselling book, Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer. While it landed in 13th place on America’s combined print and e-book bestsellers list, the New York Times refused to list the book as the nation’s number four bestselling non-fiction title. Undaunted, the journalistic couple decided that Gosnell’s story needed to be told to a wider audience on screen.
Of course, there was no Hollywood money forthcoming for such a project. The couple turned instead to crowdfunding. Their campaign turned out to be one of the most successful in recent crowdfunding history, raising $2.3 million in just 45 days from almost 30,000 donors.
Eventually, the film, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer, was made. On October 12, it was released across the US. Showing in 673 cinemas on its opening, Gosnell grossed $1,235,800, becoming one of the top-earning films of that weekend. This was all the more remarkable given the absence of any significant reviews. The mainstream media had apparently chosen to ignore the film, presumably in the hope that moviegoers would do likewise.
Anticipating a second media blackout, the film’s producers looked to audience word of mouth and resultant social media to promote Gosnell. But soon after the film’s release, Facebook refused to carry advertisements related to the film. After complaints, Wikipedia marked the film’s page entry for deletion (but ultimately relented). More worryingly still, movie theatres across America decided not to rebook Gosnell for a second week – something unheard of when a newly released film has an eager and growing audience. There were even stories of sales staff at ticket kiosks actively discouraging people from seeing the film.
Currently, and all too predictably, the New York Times has refused any advertisements relating to the film. It seems someone somewhere has decided that Gosnell is to be quietly dropped. The American media has decided to forget the film, just as, in the same way, it did Gosnell’s many victims.
The treatment of the Gosnell film has shown that influential parts of the media will stop at nothing to hide the truth about abortion from its audiences, pretending that the Gosnells of this world, and the activities in which they engage, are simply equivalent to those of any other medical practitioner. That’s something with which many doctors, not least Hippocrates, would vehemently disagree.
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