A Philadelphia doctor accused of performing illegal, late-term abortions in a filthy clinic has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive but acquitted in the death of a fourth baby.
In Philadelphia, after a two-month trial and 10 days of deliberation, a jury on Monday decided that Baby A, Baby C and Baby D lived a few fleeting moments outside their mothers’ wombs before their spinal cords were severed at Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic in West Philadelphia.
The way those brief lives ended didn’t amount to abortion but to three acts of first-degree murder, jurors concluded.
Gosnell, in a dark suit and a maroon shirt, furrowed his brow and shook his head slightly but remained stoic when the verdicts were read in a packed Philadelphia courtroom just before 3 pm. One juror appeared to cry. Prosecutors smiled in relief and later hugged colleagues.
Jurors acquitted Gosnell of third-degree murder but found him guilty on a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose while undergoing an abortion at his clinic.
The jury also acquitted him of murder in the death of another infant, known as Baby E, whom prosecutors had struggled to prove was alive after delivery. Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart previously dismissed three additional first-degree murder charges against Gosnell, each involving other infants.
"This Baby Is Big Enough to Walk Around With Me or Walk Me to the Bus Stop"
The Cruelly Aborted Infants
Condition of Abortion Doctor Kermit Gosnell's Clinic
As described in a Grand Jury report overseen by Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams, authorities uncovered an unsettling scene during a February 18, 2010, raid of the Women's Medical Society on Lancaster Avenue.
This photo shows bags of biohazard in the basement of the clinic. According to the report, Gosnell had arranged for a weekly pickup of biohazardous materials, but because he failed to pay his bills, the materials piled up in the basement.
According to the report, Gosnell engaged in the inexplicable and unnecessary practice of severing fetal feet and storing them in jars.
Gosnell allegedly claimed that the feet were kept as DNA samples in case of a need to prove paternity; however medical experts brought in to testify before the grand jury all dismissed this claim, stating that a tiny tissue sample would be enough for a DNA sample.
The report states that the equipment at Gosnell's clinic was outdated and unsanitary. In this photo of a procedure room at the clinic, corrosion can be seen on the osygen tank tubing.
Stains and tears are seen on this examination table in the procedure room. According to the testimony of former employee Kareema Cross, "The rooms were dirty. Blood everywhere. Dust everywhere. Nothing was clean."
A sedation dosage chart drawn by Ashley Baldwin, a 15-year-old girl who worked at the clinic alongside her mother, Tina Baldwin.
A price list for procedures. Former employee Kareema Cross testified, "[for] 20 to 24 weeks, [Dr. Gosnell] will do dilation for two days. For 23 to 24, he'll do dilation for two days and . . . he'll go in. We'll give them the medication to put them to sleep." Abortions past the gestational age of 24 weeks are illegal in Pennsylvania.
A form from Karnamaya Mongar's file at the clinic. A refugee from Bhutan, 41-year-old Mongar spoke no English and went to the clinic with her daughter. She died on November 19, 2009, of a fatal drug overdose delivered at the clinic. Clinic employees Lynda Williams and Sherry West have pleaded guilty to drug delivery resulting in death.
A locked emergency exit at the clinic. Paramedics who arrived to transport Karnamaya Mongar to the hospital needed access to this door in order to get a stretcher into the clinic, but, according to the Grand Jury report, clinic staff could not find the keys.