Paul Tuns:
In 2011, Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell was charged on seven counts of first-degree murder, among other charges, for murdering newborn babies and injuring female clients at his “house of horrors” abortion facility. Last month, he died in a Pennsylvania prison at the age of 85.
Health inspectors closed his abortion mill, Women’s Medical Society Clinic, after discovering the remains of dead babies in jars, unhygienic and rusted surgical equipment, and the general smell of cat urine wafting throughout the abortion mill.
H was also charged with 21 counts of committing illegal late-term abortions and more than 200 counts of violating Pennsylvania’s 24-hour waiting period before committing an abortion.
Gosnell was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of three counts of first-degree murder of three newborn babies and the involuntary manslaughter of a female client who died after being given multiple unrecorded doses of the sedative Demerol which was provided by unlicensed workers.
Gosnell was suspected of illegally killing thousands of babies born alive after surviving botched abortions and grotesquely injuring at least one other woman who sought his lethal services.
Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, journalists and filmmakers who wrote the book Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer and produced a documentary about the case, said the grand jury investigating Gosnell’s crimes “wanted to charge him with 200 recent murders but the move was stymied and reduced to just seven after pressure from senior political and law enforcement officials.”
During the trial, it was revealed by several former employees that Gosnell routinely murdered infants who survived abortions by severing their spinal cords with scissors. Gosnell called the practice “snippings.” One baby killed this way (Baby Boy A), for which Gosnell was convicted of first-degree murder, was born at 30 weeks gestation and weighed six pounds. The remains of Baby Boy A were disposed of in a shoebox.
The mother of Baby Boy A almost also died after developing a severe infection and blood clots.
Another woman suffered a mutilated cervix and colon as Gosnell attempted to extract the preborn child. Her family was refused entry to pick up the severely injured woman.
Other women suffered severe infections after Gosnell left mutilated baby parts inside them after botched abortions.
Former staff also testified that later-term, illegal abortions, were scheduled when the abortion mill was closed and there were fewer staff.
He “killed live, viable, moving, breathing, crying babies,” the grand jury report said. The New York Times reported, “Most of the deaths could not be prosecuted because documentary or physical evidence was gone.”
The district attorney called for the death penalty but agreed to a life sentence without parole after Gosnell waived his right to appeal his convictions.
Kermit Gosnell was the subject of a 2015 documentary, 3801 Lancaster: American Tragedy, and a 2018 feature film, Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer.
