American abortion doctor goes on trial in 8 deaths
Source: Agencies |
March 5, 2013, Tuesday
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THREE years after drug agents searching a suspected "pill mill" at a Philadelphia clinic instead found a medical "house of horrors," an abortion doctor is going on trial on eight counts of murder.
Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, the clinic owner, is charged with killing a pregnant refugee and seven viable newborns. He also faces a separate federal trial on prescription drug charges.
Gosnell, who has pleaded not guilty, saw himself as a medical missionary in the blighted neighborhood where he lived for 40 years. His Women's Medical Center treated the poor, immigrants, teens and women with late-stage pregnancies who could not get abortions elsewhere.
"I feel in the long term I will be vindicated," Gosnell told the Philadelphia Daily News in a March 2010 interview, a month after the federal drug raid. "I aspire to perfection, certainly for my patients."
But some of those patients were left with infections, perforated bowels and other injuries after barbaric abortions were performed by untrained, unlicensed staff, according to numerous lawsuits and a lengthy 2011 grand jury report. And 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar lost her life there in 2009.
Jury selection starts yesterday in the death penalty case. All but one of the nine clinic workers arrested with Gosnell have pleaded guilty, three of them to third-degree murder, which carries a potential 20- to 40-year prison sentence.
Unlicensed doctor Steven Massof of Pittsburgh told the grand jury that he used scissors to snip the spines of more than 100 babies born alive. He worked for Gosnell for a few hundred dollars a week. He pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the deaths of two babies allegedly stabbed by Gosnell while Massof assisted with the abortions.
Gosnell's third wife, Pearl, a cosmetologist, pleaded guilty to performing an illegal, late-term abortion and other charges.
It's not clear if Gosnell plans to testify, because a gag order has been issued in the case. But it's possible, given his posture in the Daily News interview.
"Many times people have not been able to fully pay me for my services," Gosnell said. "As a principle, I have not refused to provide them care."
Yet he made millions over the years, both from abortions and a thriving side practice where staffers allegedly dispensed his pre-signed prescriptions for OxyContin, Percocet and other highly addictive painkillers.
Federal drug charges await Gosnell after the murder trial, which is expected to last several weeks. Opening statements are scheduled for March 14.
Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, the clinic owner, is charged with killing a pregnant refugee and seven viable newborns. He also faces a separate federal trial on prescription drug charges.
Gosnell, who has pleaded not guilty, saw himself as a medical missionary in the blighted neighborhood where he lived for 40 years. His Women's Medical Center treated the poor, immigrants, teens and women with late-stage pregnancies who could not get abortions elsewhere.
"I feel in the long term I will be vindicated," Gosnell told the Philadelphia Daily News in a March 2010 interview, a month after the federal drug raid. "I aspire to perfection, certainly for my patients."
But some of those patients were left with infections, perforated bowels and other injuries after barbaric abortions were performed by untrained, unlicensed staff, according to numerous lawsuits and a lengthy 2011 grand jury report. And 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar lost her life there in 2009.
Jury selection starts yesterday in the death penalty case. All but one of the nine clinic workers arrested with Gosnell have pleaded guilty, three of them to third-degree murder, which carries a potential 20- to 40-year prison sentence.
Unlicensed doctor Steven Massof of Pittsburgh told the grand jury that he used scissors to snip the spines of more than 100 babies born alive. He worked for Gosnell for a few hundred dollars a week. He pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the deaths of two babies allegedly stabbed by Gosnell while Massof assisted with the abortions.
Gosnell's third wife, Pearl, a cosmetologist, pleaded guilty to performing an illegal, late-term abortion and other charges.
It's not clear if Gosnell plans to testify, because a gag order has been issued in the case. But it's possible, given his posture in the Daily News interview.
"Many times people have not been able to fully pay me for my services," Gosnell said. "As a principle, I have not refused to provide them care."
Yet he made millions over the years, both from abortions and a thriving side practice where staffers allegedly dispensed his pre-signed prescriptions for OxyContin, Percocet and other highly addictive painkillers.
Federal drug charges await Gosnell after the murder trial, which is expected to last several weeks. Opening statements are scheduled for March 14.
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