Dr. Kermit Gosnell, convicted of killing babies at Philadelphia abortion clinic, dies at 85
PHILADELPHIA — Dr. Kermit Gosnell, an abortion clinic doctor sentenced to life in prison for killing three babies born alive, died earlier this month at a Pennsylvania hospital, prison officials said Monday.
Gosnell’s filthy clinic in West Philadelphia became known as the “house of horrors.” Former employees testified that he routinely performed illegal abortions past Pennsylvania’s 24-week limit, delivered babies who were still moving, moaning, or breathing, and that he and his assistants dispatched newborns by “cutting” their spines, as he called it.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Maria Bivens said Gosnell, 85, died March 1 at a hospital outside the prison system. He had recently been incarcerated at Smithfield State Correctional Institution, about 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) south of Pittsburgh. The cause of death has not been released.
Gosnell presented himself as an advocate for poor and desperate women. In addition to three counts of first-degree murder, he was also convicted of several other crimes, including violations of Pennsylvania’s abortion laws.
Conditions at his clinic were revealed during a 2010 investigation into prescription drug trafficking. Investigators described a foul-smelling place with bags and vials containing fetuses and jars containing body parts, as well as blood-stained furniture and dirty medical instruments.
State authorities had not conducted routine inspections of all of its abortion clinics for 15 years by the time Gosnell’s facility was raided. As a result of the scandal, two top state health officials were fired and Pennsylvania imposed stricter rules on clinics.
Gosnell did not testify at his 2013 trial, but his defense attorney argued that none of the fetuses were born alive and that all movements were posthumous contractions or spasms.
