Month: January 2011

National abortion funding network member visited notorious Philadelphia abortion clinic

In 2007, three representatives from the Delaware Pro-Choice Medical Fund toured Kermit Gosnell’s Womens Medical Society in West Philadelphia.  According to a statement from the National Network of Abortion Funds (full statement here), the visitors saw nothing that prevented them from funding abortions there. According to the NNAB,

The Network has reached out to the Delaware Pro-choice Medical Fund and can share the following information about the relationship between the Fund and Dr. Gosnell’s clinic. Three volunteer board members of the Fund toured Gosnell’s clinic in 2007. They were met by Dr. Gosnell and two other doctors as well as some administrative staff. Their tour took place on a day when abortions were not being provided, but other health care services were and the women saw several elderly patients in the waiting room. One of the other doctors, not Gosnell, showed the Fund members around the clinic. Nothing they saw, including the ultrasound room, waiting room, and recovery room, gave them any reason to be concerned about the practices of the clinic. After the tour, the Fund also did some research on Dr. Gosnell on a website that rates doctors and hospitals. On that site they discovered one sanction against another employee at the clinic but it appeared from the information available that the matter had been resolved eleven years prior. The Fund did not consider the one sanction to be sufficient reason to deny help to women obtaining abortion services at the clinic.

The Philadelphia grand jury report noted that Gosnell directed his staff to lie to the Delaware Pro-Choice Medical Fund about the address of women seeking abortion. Apparently, the DPCMF worked directly with clinics rather than giving money to women. Thus, the fund was vulnerable to this kind of fraud.

The statement from NNAF, if it can be taken at face value, illustrates at least one more reason why state government needs to regulate abortion clinics. We already know that the National Abortion Federation observed Gosnell’s clinic and found reasons not to include it in their membership. However, the evaluator told no one about the conditions there and they continued. Now we find that another pro-choice group entered the clinic and didn’t see the problems that others saw.

Apparently the conditions were continuously bad. According to the grand jury, the Philadelphia Health Department visited the clinic in 2007 and found some problems but apparently overlooked others. In fact, the grand jury was surprised that no one reported the other problems.

Health department employees who visited the clinic between 2001 and 2007 recorded that they dealt with “Drs.” O’Neill and Massof, but never Gosnell. These inspectors noted problems with the refrigerator, the clinic’s record-keeping, and expired vaccines. They were apparently oblivious, however, to other obvious deficiencies that did not relate directly to vaccines.

Perhaps Gosnell cleaned up for the visit in ways that would fool untrained people. However, in hindsight, it seems to be an oversight to only do an internet search about Gosnell. According to the NNAF statement, the Delaware group met with Gosnell and two “doctors.” According to the grand jury report, there were no other doctors at the clinic. Instead, two people called doctors at the clinic were not licensed as physicians anywhere. An inquiry of the state medical board would have uncovered that.

In the case of Women’s Medical Society, two private abortion groups visited the clinic with no consequences. The bottom line is this: if the state is not going to regulate abortion clinics, then in essence they will  be unregulated.

Bryan Fischer hearts Scott Lively; repeats Holocaust revision

Bryan Fischer gets his gay nazi on with this glowing tribute to Scott Lively and the Pink Swastika.

Two things: One, the motives behind David Kato’s death are not clear as yet but that does not stop Bryan Fischer from providing his audience with one-sided analysis. It may be awhile before we can sort through all of the competing theories.

And two, and perhaps more dangerous, Fischer recommends to his large audience a book which has been rejected by Campus Crusade, NARTH, Exodus International and virtually all historians I know who have looked at it. Even the historian Fischer advances to support his theory of the Holocaust said Fischer and Lively are wrong (see Lothar Machtan’s statement).

Hitler’s atrocities primarily do NOT derive from his homosexuality. Of course you CANNOT blame Hitler’s homosexuality for the Holocaust. (Machtan supplied the emphasis)

Machtan thinks Hitler was gay. Having read his book, I would say he did not succeed in proving his thesis. Machtan’s book is not well received among historians. However, even someone who thinks Hitler might have been gay says that his sexuality had nothing to do with the Holocaust or other atrocities. The only ones who think that are…, well, you know.

Witness says pastors bribed him to accuse Kayanja

This story from the UG Pulse is starting to sound like rumors I have been hearing for months.

One of the boys who was allegedly sodomized by pastor Robert Kayanja testified that he was used by pastor Solomon Male, Martin Sempa , Micheal Kyazze and pastor Bob Kayiya and a state house employee Anitah Kyomuhendo who was allegedly sent by Janet Museveni.

Robson Matovu confirmed court that pastor Kayanja has never sodomized him, he was just received a bribe from the said pastor to talk false information on him.

Matovu said that he was supposed to be paid 56million shillings after giving false information to Kayanja and out of 56 he received only 160,000shillings to buy a new phone which he handed over to police after pulling out from the deal.

Minister Nsababuturo was also behind the deal witness testified.

The Pastors are accused of conspiracy to cause injury to trade of pastor Robert Kayanja.

It’s alleged that the duo between December 2008 and 2009 at various places within Kampala conspired to cause injuries to the personality reputation and to trade of pastor Kayanja alleging that he was engaged homosexual practice.

National Abortion Federation suspends Delaware abortion clinic

As I noted on Saturday, the National Abortion Federation deleted references on the organization website to Atlantic Women’s Medical Services late last week after my inquiries. This morning, The News Journal is reporting that the Atlantic clinics in Wilmington and Dover as well as a clinic in LA have been suspended.

The suspension, which had been recommended in a 261-page report by a Philadelphia grand jury that investigated Gosnell, came following a meeting of the executive committee of the federation’s board of directors, a federation representative wrote in an e-mail.

The suspension also applies to clinics that are affiliated with Atlantic in Louisiana, according to the statement.

Atlantic, which has clinics on Baynard Boulevard in Wilmington and on North DuPont Highway in Dover, is owned by Leroy Brinkley, who according to court papers also owns the Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge, La.

The Delta Clinic was cited by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in a 2009 for a number of health and safety violations that regulators believed put the lives of patients at risk. The clinic, however, has fixed those deficiencies, according to Louisiana officials.

As a result of the suspension, the National Abortion Federation will no longer be referring patients to the Delaware or Louisiana facilities, according to the federation. Atlantic and Delta are also no longer listed on the federation’s website under “find a provider.” But NAF did not shut the clinic down because it has no jurisdiction or authority to do so.

I started contacting both the NAF and the Wilmington clinic last week and received this statement from NAF about Atlantic late Thursday.

NAF has been cooperating with the District Attorney’s office in Philadelphia. We take the Grand Jury Report seriously and we need to understand why they made the recommendation that they did in order to determine how to proceed.

It is hard to understand what else the NAF needed in order to make a determination about how to proceed. When this statement was made, the NAF had not suspended the Atlantic clinic but had been aware of the grand jury report which recommended the reassessment of the Wilmington clinic.

The LA clinic had also been under fire from pro-life groups due to allegations of poor conditions.

Delaware does not require inspections of abortion clinics which is similar to how PA related to them until the Kermit Gosnell scandal came to light. In states where such inspections are not required, the NAF is likely the only outside entity which evaluates conditions in abortion clinics. In the Gosnell grand jury report, the NAF representative testified that Kermit Gosnell’s West Philadelphia clinic was denied membership. However, the evaluator said that a denial had not happened before in her experience. Then she explained why such denials were rare.

The evaluator told the Grand Jury that this was the first time in her experience that NAF had outright rejected a provider for membership. Usually, if a clinic is able to fix deficiencies and come into compliance with the standards, NAF will admit them. Gosnell’s clinic, however, was deemed beyond redemption.

What seems clear is that in many states abortion is practically unregulated. If the state does not visit the clinic, clinics could go for years with no outside evaluation. The NAF only visits every 5-7 years, and their reports have no teeth legally. As the grand jury report points out, nail salons have more oversight.

Christians offer prayers for Day of Peace in Pakistan

Today (Sunday, 1/30) has been set aside in Pakistan by Christians as a day of fasting and prayer for peace. More from this CP report:

The event is a response to plans by Islamic fundamentalists to campaign against any amendment to the Muslim nation’s controversial blasphemy laws, and for the death of convicted Christian mother of five Asia Bibi.

However, the Day of Prayer is intended to serve as a peaceful response to the intensifying, and often violent rallies led by radical Islamic groups in defense of the laws.

“We Christians do not wish to react nor respond to the provocations, instead to pray and fast, placing the difficulties that the country is experiencing in God’s hands,” Father John Shakir Nadeem, secretary for social communications for the Episcopal Conference, told Fides News Agency.

All churches in Pakistan will join in prayer for the nation to find “peace and harmony” and for Bibi’s freedom.

As you think about it today, please let’s join them.

National Abortion Federation quietly removes reference to Gosnell’s Delaware clinic

Sometime Friday, the National Abortion Federation removed reference to the Atlantic Women’s Medical Services in Wilmington, DE from their website. Atlantic is the clinic where Philadelphia abortion doctor and accused murderer, Kermit Gosnell, worked one day per week until early last year. For now, the clinic remains in the search cache.

Late Thursday, the NAF issued a statement to me indicating confusion about why the Philadelphia grand jury recommended that the NAF “reassess” the membership of Atlantic. At least six illegal abortions were paid for and began at the Delaware clinic. The Director of the clinic, Leroy Brinkley, failed to produce records relating to three of the clients in question. One of Gosnell’s staff, Lynda Williams, also worked at both clinics and has been charged with murder. An NAF spokesperson told me via email:

NAF has been cooperating with the District Attorney’s office in Philadelphia. We take the Grand Jury Report seriously and we need to understand why they made the recommendation that they did in order to determine how to proceed.

The grand jury report made clear why the recommendation to reassess was made.

We recommend that NAF reassess the membership of Atlantic Women’s Medical Services, the Delaware abortion clinic where Gosnell worked part-time before losing his license in that state. We learned that at least six patients were referred from Atlantic to Gosnell’s clinic in Philadelphia for illegal late-term abortions. These patients paid Atlantic for late-term procedures performed by Gosnell in his Lancaster Avenue clinic.

We heard evidence that Gosnell would insert laminaria in patients in Delaware and then have them come to his Philadelphia office for the abortion procedure itself. The director of Atlantic Women’s Medical Services, Leroy Brinkley, was unconcerned. He did not properly supervise the doctors he hired as “independent contractors” to assure that they were complying with the law. Remarkably, despite Gosnell’s long time association with Atlantic, Brinkley only produced three files for patients seen by Gosnell at Brinkley’s clinic.

Although, the NAF statement implies lack of understanding about why Atlantic should be removed, the clinic is not now showing up on the NAF website via search of clinics in DE. The membership status of Atlantic is not clear.

On Friday, the DE Attorney General, Beau Biden, announced the beginning of an investigation into the Atlantic clinic.

Brenda Namigadde remains in the UK – for now

The BBC is reporting just now that Brenda Namigadde will not be required to leave the UK tonight as had been planned. Here is more…

Lawyers for Ms Namigadde lodged papers at the High Court asking a judge to grant an injunction against her deportation, which was due to take place on Friday evening.

When the BBC spoke to Ms Namigadde by phone on Friday afternoon she was already being escorted to Heathrow airport.

Her lawyer, Abdulrahman Jafar, said he would argue that Ms Namigadde should be allowed to remain in the UK regardless of her sexuality.

“The press coverage about her activities certainly expose her to a real risk if she is to be returned to Uganda,” he said.

David Kato, who was recently beaten to death, led condemnation of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

The Home Office confirmed the granting of the injuction and said Ms Namigadde would not have to be deported on Friday night.

The Archbishop of Canterbury condemns murder of David Kato; speaks in favor of asylum seekers

This from the Archbishop’s website:

Archbishop condemns murder of Ugandan gay human rights activist

Friday 28 January 2011

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is currently in Dublin for the Primates’ meeting, has made the following statement regarding the murder of the gay human rights activist David Kato Kisulle in Uganda:

“The brutal murder of David Kato Kisule, a gay human rights activist, is profoundly shocking. Our prayers and deep sympathy go out for his family and friends – and for all who live in fear for their lives. Whatever the precise circumstances of his death, which have yet to be determined, we know that David Kato Kisule lived under the threat of violence and death. No one should have to live in such fear because of the bigotry of others. Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide. This event also makes it all the more urgent for the British Government to secure the safety of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK. This is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities.”

Note his support for “asylum seekers.” I wonder if a decision on Brenda Namigadde will come today.

Anti-gay reaction to David Kato’s death

Various actors in the Anti-Homosexuality Bill saga have made statements and provided their own spin on the death of David Kato.

In this BBC segment, Martin Ssempa provides comment. Ssempa says the reason for Kato’s death is “gay on gay bashing.” Given his brush with the legal system, perhaps Ssempa has taken up investigating crime and has it all figured out. Otherwise, the BBC segment is worth viewing in that it again demonstrates the difficult situation for Ugandan GLBT people.

David Bahati uses Kato’s death to continue to bash gays and essentially says Kato brought his death on himself. UG Pulse says Bahati “mourns” Kato. Not.

He [Bahati] says though his death may have had nothing to do with his acts, it has everything to do with the financial resources set to these individuals by donors, which could have attracted the attention of the assailants.

The MP says the Police should not only investigate Kato’s death, but also dismantle the illegal networks, particularly financial, which are being used to facilitate gay activities in Uganda, especially in schools.In Uganda most people feel like vomiting when they come across gay practitioners or activists.

The tabloid, The Red Pepper, appears to be singing off the same sheet of music as Ssempa.

And then this piece in the Uganda Record asserts that Kato supported Museveni’s opposition, implying perhaps that Kato’s murder related to political reasons.

And then there is this doozy from Scott Lively who often leaves me temporarily speechless.

Ugandan police make preliminary statements about the murder of David Kato

Those investigating the murder of David Kato are leaning away from the crime being related to bias against gays. This according to a statement read today at the Uganda Media Centre and reported in the government owned New Vision.

THE Police are holding one person in connection with yesterday’s murder of David Kisuule Kato, who has been one of the activists campaigning against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, however, said the murder was an act of robbery and not connected to Kato’s campaign against the Bill.

Kato, 46, was hit on the head with a hammer by unknown assailants at his home in Bukasa-Kyetume in Nakisunga sub-county, Mukono district.

According to residents, Kato was killed at around 2:00pm on Wednesday by three men who were travelling in a saloon car.

“The circumstances surrounding this incident have no indication regarding Kato’s campaign against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill before Parliament,” said Kayihura in a statement read to the media by the deputy Police spokesperson, Vincent Ssekate, at the Uganda Media Centre.

Kato has been a member of the Sexual Minorities Uganda. Police said a suspect, Arnold Ssenoga, who was a driver to the deceased, had been arrested and is being held at the Rapid Response Unit headquarters in Kireka.

Police are also on the hunt for another suspect, identified as Enock Nsubuga, who is at large.

Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba, who visited the murder scene, said a team of detectives from the Police headquarters had been assigned to handle the case in view of the interest it had generated in the international community. “We have not yet established the intention of the assailants, but the Police are investigating the matter,” Nabakooba said.

According to a copy of the statement I received, Inspector General Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura made an effort to present Uganda in a good light, saying:

As police investigations are continuing, the public is asked to disregard any insinuations that have been attributed to this unfortunate incident. Uganda is a peaceful country and any crime of any nature is taken seriously and to its conclusive end.

One should take care in interpreting these preliminary statements. Given the international scrutiny on this crime as well, the Ugandans might have an incentive to minimize bias toward gays. On the other hand, international observers might experience a rush to judgment.