Kermit Gosnell, the doctor charged with four counts of first-degree murder as a late-term abortionist, has been found guilty of three of those four counts, while he was acquitted in the fourth baby’s death. Gosnell faced over 200 counts in the case, ranging from racketeering and conspiracy charges – his clinic, apparently, was a dump, and the case has a lot of ugly details, but the major charges regard the four babies and one patient whose death he was associated with.
Among the accusations are that he delivered the babies alive and then “snipped” their spines with scissors, as he himself referred to the operation. The fourth baby reportedly made out a soft whimper before he snapped its neck; he was cleared of that death. Another baby was so large when he aborted it that he joked it could “walk to the bus,” as the Huffington Post reported. Pennsylvania has a 24-week limit in abortion procedures. Another fetus was born and alive for 20 minutes before a clinic worker snipped its neck, while another was put into a toilet before a clinic employee severed its neck.
The practice sounds ugly, but the facility itself was a dump, with bottles storing fetuses and severed feet, with bloodstained furniture, and free-roaming cats.
Gosnell’s attorney, Jack McMahon, tried to make the case that the fetuses were born dead and only twitched, giving the appearance of life. He argued that the 2009 death of Karnamaya Mongar from Demerol overdose was from birth complications and could not have been avoided. He made the case that Gosnell was providing answers to desperate young women, “a solution to their problems,” and that the prosecutors were “elitist” and “racist” for charging Gosnell, who is black and whose patients were often minorities. “We know why he was targeted,” McMahon claimed.
Instead of being targeted for being a minority, perhaps he was actually just targeted for malpractice? He performed thousands of abortions over the course of 30 years, making about $1.8 million a year, mostly in cash. His staff, meanwhile, often was unqualified for the work they were hired for, and were often asked to do things they were uncomfortable doing.
“He created an assembly line with no regard for these women whatsoever,” said prosecutor Ed Cameron, “And he made money doing that.”
Gosnell reportedly remained more calm during the trial than the jurors or the lawyers on either side. Gosnell could face the death penalty for his first-degree murder charges. The jury will hear evidence on Tuesday in deciding his punishment.