Paul Keenan
An Irish author whose exposé on the crimes of infamous US abortionist Kermit Gosnell has become a nationwide bestseller in America has attacked the New York Times for failing to feature the book on its respected Bestseller List.
Documentary maker Phelim McAleer, who is co-author of Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer, accused the newspaper of “messing with the figures” in order to keep attention away from the book’s revelations.
Kermit Gosnell was a Pennsylvania-based abortionist who, in 2011, was exposed as performing abortions beyond the state’s 24-week limit. FBI investigators who moved against the doctor would later describe the “charnel house” that was his clinic, where countless infant body parts were found. Gosnell was subsequently convicted of three infant murders and the manslaughter of a woman who died at the clinic. He is currently serving life in prison without the chance of parole.
Popular
Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week, McAleer said the book, which shot to No.3 on the Amazon bestseller list, has just as quickly become the fourth most popular non-fiction hardback in bookshops across America.
“But the New York Times has not listed it.”
In addition to the low level of coverage afforded by the liberal media to the Gosnell case after the FBI revelations, McAleer pointed out that the Gosnell book has received a similar level of media attention in America, yet the book’s status demonstrates that people want to know the truth of his actions.
“We thought we would do well,” McAleer said, “but not fourth on the bestseller list. But the interest [in the Gosnell case] is there.” He added: “People hate the truth to be kept from them. The cover-up is driving sales.”
He went on to explain that the refusal to shed a bad light on the issue of abortion is a pattern he and co-author Ann McElhinney have experienced since they completed a film on the Gosnell case in 2016. To date, the filmmakers have been unable to convince an American studio or distributor to promote it, though McAleer voiced hope that the success of the book might now change minds.
“We’re hopeful the splash will help drive the movie,” he said.