Remember Kermit Gosnell? The main reason that the serial killer managed to elude detection for so long was that the state of Pennsylvania didn’t bother to inspect his facility for seventeen years, even though state law required it — and even though previous inspections showed significant causes for concern. The grand jury report specifically blamed politics in Pennsylvania for a lack of action. Had federal investigators not started probing Gosnell for his illegal trade in drugs, he’d still be cheerfully murdering babies that survived abortions and a few of their mothers, too.

One might think that other states would have learned a lesson from this grotesque example. Unfortunately, New York hasn’t, as the New York Post discovered:

The state Health Department is failing to inspect many of New York’s abortion clinics — with some facilities escaping scrutiny for more than a decade, bombshell documents obtained by The Post reveal.

Health inspectors regulate 25 diagnostic and treatment clinics and surgery centers that provide abortion services — though pro-choice advocates say there are 225 abortion service providers in New York state.

Eight of the 25 clinics were never inspected over the 2000-12 span, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times — meaning once every four or six years.

Well, at least we know which clinics passed inspection, right? Women in New York can therefore make an informed choice about which abortion providers to choose with that information. Actually, they can’t, because the state refuses to name the clinics that have been inspected. The FOIA demand from a pro-life group had that identifying information redacted, because the state was concerned about the safety of clinics, rather than women.

Maybe this is a funding issue. New York just may not have the resources to inspect commercial facilities. Or …

By comparison, city eateries are inspected every year and graded, while a new law requires tanning salons to undergo inspections at least once every other year.

The Post points out that 130,000 abortions took place in 2012, the last year for which complete statistics are available. Almost 75,000 of those were performed in New York City alone. It’s a little more significant act than getting one’s skin bronzed or ordering a slice of pizza, and yet New York seems almost entirely disinterested in the safety of women who enter into these clinics.

How many more Gosnells would we find if New York conducted its required inspections? Maybe they’re afraid to find out.

Addendum: Let this serve also as a reminder to donate to the Gosnell Movie project at IndieGoGo. Perhaps if we get that story out, states like New York will face enough pressure to enforce the law.