Abortionist and convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell in 2013. | Philadelphia Inquirer
One of America’s most notorious serial killers died in prison earlier this month.
Abortionist Kermit Gosnell was sentenced to life without parole in 2013 after an investigation into alleged drug trafficking charges revealed he’d killed scores of babies born alive in his abortion clinic.
“A 2011 grand jury investigation into Gosnell’s alleged prescription drug trafficking led to the gruesome findings about his abortion clinic,” the Associated Press reported. “An FBI raid had turned up 47 aborted fetuses stored in clinic freezers, jars of tiny severed feet, bloodstained furniture and dirty medical instruments, along with cats roaming the premises.”
According to Gosnell’s former employees, he routinely aborted second- and third-trimester babies, many of whom were born alive, “moving, whimpering, or breathing,” and “dispatched the newborns by ‘snipping’ their spines.” Gosnell never expressed guilt for his actions.
One might have expected cheers from those who opposed Gosnell. But Robert P. George, professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and longtime pro-life advocate, said he hoped Gosnell repented and would receive mercy.
“I’m glad that he was finally caught and stopped, but I’m not glad he’s dead,” George tweeted. “He was a human being. He was made in the image of God. Although, tragically, he did not recognize the inherent and inestimable value of human life, his life was of inherent and inestimable value.”
Detective Jim Wood, the Pennsylvania officer who first caught on to Gosnell, echoed George’s sentiments.
“May God have mercy on his soul,” Wood said.
Compare this to the reaction of a different public figure to the death of his enemy.
“Robert Mueller just died,” President Donald Trump announced March 21 on Truth Social. “Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”
Mueller, the former director of the FBI who led the investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 election, died of natural causes March 20. The Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart awardee had been married to his wife, Ann, for almost 60 years. Coworkers praised him as a man of faith and integrity, despite his complicated political record.
Trump’s gleeful reaction to Mueller’s death is inhumane, the sentiment of a sick and pitiable soul. If you can’t say something nice, at least don’t say something nasty.
Our social and political climate is stained with the drippings of this obscenity. Though Trump is not the first figure to act so maliciously, our country has suffered for it. We have all — left and right — learned to dance on the graves of our foes, placated by the knowledge that many of them are half the internet away or dead. But to imagine such vindictiveness is harmless ignores the damage it does to our souls.
Mercy, humility, and understanding are not auxiliary virtues, but the foundation of any life worth living.
Trump is 79. He will die someday. How will we react? Like all of us, he has done good and evil, but the final balance of those is visible only to the All-Knowing.
May we extend mercy anyway.
Caroline Kurt is a senior studying English.
