The murder trial of a Philadelphia-based abortion provider, which entered its fifth week on Monday, has received minimal media coverage since the sensational story surfaced in 2011.
Dr. Kermit Gosnell is on trial for allegedly killing seven babies and the 2009 overdose death of a 41-year-old patient. Authorities say the babies were killed using scissors at his abortion clinic in West Philadelphia.
Several patients and former employees have testified against the doctor saying that the conditions at the clinic were outdated, dirty and deadly. Former employees said they performed doing ultrasounds, distributed intravenous drugs and helped with abortions, despite lacking formal medical training. An unlicensed doctor also testified that Gosnell taught him to cut the necks of babies after they were born to ensure the babies died. He has pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder while seven other former employees have also been convicted.
Prosecutors will continue to call witnesses to the stand this week as they seek the death penalty against the 72-year-old doctor, who they say racked up millions over 30 years from women desperate to end late-term pregnancies and by hiring desperate employees.
Authorities also said they found dozens of fetuses in refrigerators at Gosnell's clinic during the raid, along with rows of severed feet.
In his defense, Gosnell's lawyer Jack McMahon insists that no babies were born alive, and that the patient died of unforeseen complications.
Despite the shocking and attention grabbing nature of this case, many major news networks have dedicated little to no time in covering the trial since it begin on March 18. Some critics say that media overlooked it since the victims were mainly working class minority women. They point out that the needs of the underclass are often underrepresented in mainstream media, as well as in society.
This theory is highlighted in the lack of coverage on the gun violence epidemic that plagues urban and inner city residents in Chicago and has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of lives, including children, in 2012. In contrast, tragedies like the Colorado movie theater shooting and the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut dominated news cycles for weeks on end. It also prompted the president and Congress to take on the mantle of finding solutions to gun violence. Although massacre stories have a greater shock value, the difference in attention between those stories and gun violence in Chicago points to the disparity in importance that our country places on victims gunned down in middle class America compared to the slums of Chicago. The inconsistency in reporting, and the subsequent call to action among lawmakers, also denotes the value that society places on someone's life is contingent upon their social status and race. As President Obama pointed out during a speech in Chicago in February, 443 people were shot dead in 2012, with 65 of them being 18 children; "That's the equivalent of a Newtown every four months."
Other critics suggested that the lack of coverage of the case stems from the media's liberal bias which serves to protect and progress the agenda of pro-abortion rights groups. This gruesome case, they say, is an example of how ugly abortion can get and would work against pro-choice advocates.
In The Atlantic, writer Conor Friedersdorf came up with 14 possible reasons why this story has been overlooked including the fact that the judge in the Gosnell case imposed a gag order on all involved and because the case doesn't map onto a specific legislative debate.
To read his list in its entirety, head over to The Atlantic.
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