Gosnell – The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer is a book written by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. Ann and Phelim are journalists and the book is very well written. The book is about Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor who was charged and found guilty of serial murder.  .

I got this book on audio and I was pleasantly surprised that Ms. McElhinney is the reader. It made the book more personal and she does an excellent job. At certain points in the book I was outraged and she mirrored my outrage as she read along. At other moments, I was heartbroken, and I could hear her voice almost crack as she tried not to cry. Towards the end, I was disgusted and she reflected what I was feeling as she read. I really appreciated that about the audio, and I highly recommend getting the book in audio format. Several times as I listened I would stop what I was doing and just concentrated on her voice because I actually felt numb. I couldn’t even move.

I am not unfamiliar with abortion. I volunteer at a crisis pregnancy clinic and am helping to open up another one in my county. I have seen the pictures. I have seen videos and read about the “procedures” done to babies in the womb. I have listened and spoken to women still haunted by memories and regrets. I saw all the videos posted by David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt with the Center of Medical Progress revealing the gruesome truth of Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the harvesting and selling of dead baby organs and tissue. So, I went into the book semi-prepared to hear about the horrors of abortion, but I wasn’t prepared to to be completely outraged at the resounding silence of the media. I wasn’t prepared for the bigotry against the poor, minorities and immigrants by elitist medical interns and staff. I wasn’t prepared for the selective incompetence of the government’s health departments. I wasn’t prepared for the lack of zealotry from feminists at the unequivocal mistreatment of vulnerable women – minority women to boot. And I wasn’t prepared for the creepy hubris of Kermit Gosnell.

As I finished the book I concluded that unless they could be exploited to fulfill an agenda, no one cared about them – the women seeking abortions and the babies that died. I can’t think of words to describe the hypocrisy of the media, of the health department, of the nurses, and of all these civil right leaders who supposedly care about minorities and women. Where were they!? Where was I?

This book will stir your very soul, but it didn’t leave me in despair, something awakened in me. After the numbness wore off, the book motivated me to be informed about issues that matter to me. In an age of information, we must be careful what we read and see, but we must also be careful to seek out several sources when shaping our opinions. Ms. McElhinney does this. She actually reads from court transcripts, she quotes eye witnesses and gives her first hand account of her meeting with Gosnell. She makes it clear that this isn’t a right or left issue. It’s not even a pro-life or pro-choice issue. Live babies were murdered and the world looked away because no one wants to violate a woman’s right to choose. I am not pro-choice at all, but if a woman is going to have an abortion, it should be safe, clean and provide her with ALL the information available to  her. That is the only way she can truly make any choice! How can anyone not agree with this? Two adult women of color died because of Gosnell’s malpractice and many more were treated in horrendous conditions by untrained staff. Some were minors and taken there against their will. And not one civil rights activist said a word! On the contrary, no one spoke out because they thought that is how abortion clinics must look in poor neighborhoods. What an outrage! They too looked away because no one truly cares about minorities unless it’s profitable to their agenda and/or pockets.

Recommendation: I recommend this book to everyone. It is not a pro-life or pro-choice book. It pro human dignity book.

To the Christian: We believe all humans are made in the image of God. All. Whether white, black, immigrant, poor or rich etc – all, carry with them the imprint of being created by a loving God. People, all people, should be treated with a dignity that is given to them by their Creator.This book is secular, but needs to be read by all Christians. Tim Challies has a great blog about this. With a warning that this book will outrage them, and open their eyes to a very cruel world, I would allow my teenage children to read this. They, most of all, need to know that the main stream media is out for their minds and is hoping to shape their opinions. The book is gory, it is frightening, and it is very heartbreaking, but so is the Holocaust and we don’t hesitate to teach this to our older children. This book sheds light at the depravity of man, but we cannot look away. We cannot hope that by ignoring what happens in these neighborhoods or in these clinics, that somehow they will go away. This happens every day, and we are commanded to go and be a light – no matter how small the light may be – in these dark recesses of human abasement.

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ~ John 12:46 

We cannot hide from this. We cannot ignore. Every night at 10:10 pm I pray for the children that undergo abortion, the mothers who abort them, the doctors who kill, and those who give their time and money to minister to those broken by these atrocities. Why do I pray at 10:10 pm? Because John 10:10 says – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” There’s nothing magical about the number, it’s just an alarm I set at that time to stop what I am doing and pray which pushes  me to not look away and do something.