Convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell, who ran a house of horrors abortion clinic, died on March 1, 2026.
Star Parker, founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), and Marty Dannenfelser, CURE’s vice president of Government Relations, wrote a report titled “The Impact of Abortion on the Black Community” that was published in July 2022.
Here is an excerpt of the report concerning pro-life lawmakers’ and CURE’s response after Gosnell’s atrocities came to light.
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Post-Gosnell
In an effort to ensure a recurrence of Gosnell was not possible, several actions were taken by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Actions taken include:
- During the Gosnell trial, on May 8, 2013, Senator Mike Lee offered a resolution, “Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress and the States should investigate and correct abusive, unsanitary, and illegal abortion practices.”66
- The House Judiciary Committee sent letters to every state attorney general to determine whether state and local governments were being stymied in their efforts to protect the civil rights of newborns and their mothers by legal or financial obstacles that are within the federal government’s power to address.67
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to each state health officer requesting that they provide information on how they regulate and monitor abortion clinics to protect the health and safety of women.68
Despite these congressional actions, the states were largely unresponsive to the calls for action. Accordingly, CURE organized strategic steps to provide a voice for the voiceless.
CURE’s Response
The National Black Pro-life Coalition, Protecting Black Life, and the National Black Pro-life Union joined with CURE to meet with Senate staff members to discuss how to move the ball forward and begin legislative hearings that had been requested the previous year. The meeting focused on adding penalties to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002.69
The born-alive bill was originally signed into law by President George W. Bush after passing unanimously in the Democrat-controlled Senate. It outlaws the killing of infants born during late-term procedures—what Gosnell was doing. However, it does not invoke specific criminal or civil penalties when violated. The civil rights divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have the authority to act when born-alive violations occur, but it requires a commitment on the part of the president and the cabinet officials at those departments.
In September 2020, President Donald Trump signed an executive order70 to ensure that newborns, regardless of the circumstance of their birth, receive the care they deserve. The order required that if a child is born alive during an abortion, it must be given the same level of medical care as would be afforded any other child born alive at the same age.
CURE and our allies have continued to press for pro-life initiatives at the federal and state level. The Obama administration was hostile to any pro-life protections throughout his eight-year tenure, but President Trump took numerous executive actions to protect life and the conscience rights of pro-life medical personnel.
