Life imitates art

A while back, my favorite satirical news site, The Onion, put up a video playing off of the debate over regular and conflict-free diamonds. The analogy: decorative baby skulls. Consumers should make sure they were “harvested responsibly,” and not “illegally.” (This is my first attempt at embedding video, so please be patient. If it doesn’t work, you can view it here.)

Report: Baby Skull Jewelry May Be Linked To Violence

Yesterday, Philadelpia abortionist Kermit Gosnell was in the news after state authorities investigated his clinic and found that “parts of aborted fetuses were displayed in jars.” The preserved bodies “are being examined to see if possible illegal late-term abortion procedures were conducted.” If they were killed by legal abortion procedures, however, he will not be charged with anything.

In other words, the normative foundation for The Onion’s satire has collapsed. It turns out that it IS okay to use baby parts as decoration– so long as they were harvested legally!

Of course, the baby parts are the least of Gosnell’s problems. The state investigation was prompted when a mother died after an unlicensed employee gave her pain medication for an abortion. Investigators found numerous health violations at the “clinic,” and Gosnell’s license has been suspended.