US Abortion Doctor Found Guilty Of Murder

Dr Gosnell
Dr Gosnell

A doctor in the city of Philadelphia, USA, has been found guilty of murdering three babies with scissors after they were born alive during late-term abortions at a clinic serving low-income women.

Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now closed Women’s Medical Society Clinic, may face the death penalty after the verdicts were announced on Monday.

The case focused on whether the infants were born alive and then killed in an abortion clinic described as a “house of horrors” in testimony read to the court, or they were aborted as foetuses.

Prosecutors said he performed late-term abortions in a state where the limit is set at 24 weeks and that when babies emerged still alive, he used scissors to sever their spines.

The doctor however denied this, insisting that all babies were already dead as a result of the drug he was using in the abortion.

Witness testimony described the babies as born breathing, moving and making sounds before the doc’s scissors worked on their spines.

The jury, which had earlier on Monday declared itself unable to decide on two counts before going back to try again, had been deliberating for 10 days.

Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion.

He was also found guilty of performing 21 abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy at his clinic.

Gosnell was also convicted of infanticide and conspiracy in the babies’ deaths.

In addition, he was found guilty of 211 counts of failing to comply with a state law that requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed.

Gosnell has been in jail since his arrest in January 2011.

“He is disappointed, and he is upset,” defence attorney Jack McMahon said after the verdict was read.

The jury will return to court on Tuesday to decide if Gosnell will face the death penalty or life in prison on the three counts of first-degree murder on which he was convicted.