News
Featured Image
President Donald Trump at CPAC 2017Steve Jalsevac/LifeSIte

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 10, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In his latest gesture of solidarity with the pro-life movement, President Donald Trump will host a screening of Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer at the White House on Friday.

Gosnell tells the true story of Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s arrest, trial, and conviction for the first-degree murder of three born-alive babies and the involuntary manslaughter of patient Karnamaya Mongar. It’s based “very heavily on actual court transcripts,” “dozens of hours of interviews” with Gosnell himself, and the case’s grand jury report.

The film highlights the shocking details of the original trial, such as Gosnell cutting the spinal cords of hundreds of newborns; witnesses describing infants who survived initial abortion attempts as “swimming” in toilets “to get out”; the feet of aborted babies stored in a freezer; and the mainstream media’s initial avoidance of the story.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of the screening on Tuesday, detailing a simple invitation containing instructions on how to obtain security clearances and enter the White House. Neither the White House nor co-producer Phelim Mcaleer responded to the Reporter’s requests for comment, but the film’s official Twitter account confirmed the news on Wednesday:

Describing Gosnell as “gory,” Slate’s Ruth Graham claimed it “depicts second- and third-trimester abortions in gruesome detail,” which Vanity Fair’s Yohana Desta repeated. Dean Cain and co-star/director Nick Searcy took umbrage at those characterizations of the film:

Graham defended her use of the word “gory” by citing Focus on the Family’s Plugged In review of Gosnell, which notes that the film includes brief shots of baby feet the abortionist preserved in jars as well as a decomposing cat in his basement. But she didn’t address the larger point that while the film describes abortion procedures, it contains no visual depictions of them:

Produced by McAleer and his wife Ann McElhinney and directed from a script by novelist and conservative pundit Andrew Klavan, Gosnell overcame stiff resistance from Hollywood and social media to earn $1,235,800 over its opening weekend, rave reviews from conservatives and pro-lifers, and a 97% audience score from Rotten Tomatoes. it is currently available on DVD and digital video services, and was Amazon’s top drama and fourth best-selling DVD ahead of its home video release.