by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• Another Philadelphia abortionist testified for the prosecution today in Kermit Gosnell’s murder trial. While pro-choice bloggers are crowing about access to abortion in Philadelphia, today’s witness notes that he is one of 4 abortionists left in the city:
  

  Dr. Charles Benjamin is one of about four abortion providers left in Philadelphia in the wake of Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s arrest two years ago. His testimony was received by “an influx of reporters.”

  Benjamin, by his own count, has performed 40,000 abortions over a 30-year career. He doesn’t do them after 21 weeks, or three weeks shy of the 24-week limit in Pennsylvania, he said.

  Gosnell is accused of performing illegal, late-term abortions and running a dangerously outdated clinic staffed by untrained workers. Benjamin said that he has registered nurses on staff to monitor patients, and that only he or a nurse anesthetist give anesthesia, unlike Gosnell’s clinic, where workers hired to clean instruments or handle paperwork have testified that Gosnell trained them to administer potent intravenous drugs….

  An influx of reporters attended the trial Monday, spurred by criticism that some broadcasters were not covering the trial. A gag order prevents lawyers from speaking outside and no cameras are allowed inside the courtroom.

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• Kirsten Powers joins the chorus of voices challenging the national media blackout of the Kermit Gosnell murder trial:
  

  You don’t have to oppose abortion rights to find late-term abortion abhorrent or to find the Gosnell trial eminently newsworthy. This is not about being “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” It’s about basic human rights.The deafening silence of too much of the media, once a force for justice in America, is a disgrace.

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• As Jill reported, Johns Hopkins has agreed to fully recognize a pro-life student group. According to the Baltimore Sun, Voice for Life, a pro-life group at the university, will be fully recognized by the campus after a student judiciary unanimously overturned a decision by student legislators which would have prevented the group from doing certain activities:
  

  The Judiciary Committee called for its decision to be effective immediately. As a sanctioned club, Voice for Life will be listed in all university publications and websites, be able to raise money on campus and publicize its events, among other privileges. The decision to recognize the group as a club does not guarantee that Voice for Life will receive university funding, which is approved in a separate process.

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• Some Alabama abortionists may have a difficult time getting admitting privileges and complying with the new state law:
  

  In Birmingham, there is one licensed abortion clinic and its doctor does not have local admitting privileges. And the chance of getting such credentials may be difficult, according to a survey of Birmingham area hospitals….

  The director of Huntsville’s only abortion clinic – which does have a doctor with hospital privileges – told AL.com earlier today that the building code requirement would mean they would “probably close”….

  Planned Parenthood operates two clinics in Alabama, one in Birmingham and the other in Mobile. Neither have doctors with local admitting privileges….

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• Yesterday at the Kermit Gosnell trial, a former employee of Gosnell named Elizabeth Hampton testified about her difficulties working at his clinic:
  

  Hampton testified that she would pour the jar of red liquid from the machine down a sink drain and turn on the garbage disposal. She said she did not know if the liquid contained fetal body parts.“I left because of things I saw. I went out that night and started drinking at the bar across the street,” Hampton said, her voice choking with emotion. “I fell off the wagon.”

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat At National Review, Michael J. New gives his take on why the pro-life movement will continue to struggle against abortion in a sex-saturated culture, and how he believes abortion and same-sex marriage are related. Alabama legislators have passed new abortion clinic regulations: The [Women’s Health and Safety Act] […]

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• A record number of people wrote in to oppose the HHS Mandate regulations:
  

  Three years after Congress approved President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), contraceptive care remains its most controversial provision, drawing not only more comments than any other regulatory proposal on any subject government-wide, according to an analysis of federal regulations on Sunlight’s Docket Wrench.

  More than 147,000 people and organizations have made their voices heard over the debate, most of them opposing the provision that requires that federal agencies have interpreted to mean that women have access to preventive services–including contraception – at no cost.

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• San Francisco Supervisor David Campos is hoping to expand the city’s buffer-zone around abortion clinics:
  

  A city law passed in 1993 created an 8-foot “bubble zone” around anyone who is within 100 feet of a health care facility, but Campos said that has been ineffective. Demonstrators, he said, get around the law by staying in one spot and not approaching clinic visitors.