Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter maintained Friday that there are clinics women can go to for "legitimate, safe services for whatever" in Pennsylvania, avoiding the word "abortion" in his response to a question on the Kermit Gosnell murder trial:
PETER ALEXANDER: The jury deliberating right now on murder charges against a Philadelphia doctor, of course, whose abortion clinic prosecutors called a "house of horrors." That case prompted Pennsylvania to tighten its regulations governing inspections of abortion clinics. Are you confident that the women of all income levels in your city right now have access to safe clinics?
MICHAEL NUTTER: They do have access. This person was clearly disturbed. I'll leave it at that for the moment. This is a highly unusual situation, but the women in Philadelphia and certainly in Pennsylvania, there are certainly numerous places where you can go to have legitimate, safe services for whatever any of the women in Philadelphia, Pa., may need. This guy was bizarre in the things that he did and clearly was an aberration.
Gosnell is currently on trial, facing federal murder charges for the deaths of one woman and four born-alive infants. Investigators believe Gosnell may have killed other infants at his Philadelphia clinic, a gruesome and unsanitary shop where Gosnell "snipped" the necks of newborns with scissors, untrained employees administered anesthesia, and women given drugs to induce labor delivered babies in bathroom stalls.
Inspections of the clinic over the years by state and local authorities were either not performed, or when they were, resulted in no follow up concerning the clinic's conditions.