A 2010 investigation of Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s clinic in West Philadelphia revealed that he and his staff not only provided illegal late-term abortions, but also killed viable newborns after birth by cutting their spines with scissors.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.
Philadelphia District Attorney’s OfficeKermit Gosnell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In February 2010, federal authorities raided the Women’s Medical Society, the West Philadelphia clinic of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. They were there to uncover a pill mill that Gosnell was running from the office — but they found something far more disturbing.
Stuffed inside milk jugs, orange juice cartons, and cat food containers were the remains of dozens of fetuses. An investigation revealed that Gosnell had been bringing in thousands of dollars per day by providing illegal late-term abortions to desperate women. Horrifically, they also discovered that many of these babies had actually been murdered after birth.
Gosnell’s employees testified that they had killed hundreds of newborns on the doctor’s orders, snipping their spinal cords with scissors after they were born alive. The women who came to the clinic were also subjected to filthy conditions during their procedures, and they were sedated by untrained and unqualified staff.
Kermit Gosnell was ultimately convicted of murdering three infants, as well as the involuntary manslaughter of a patient who had died after she was given a lethal dose of sedatives. He was sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole, and he remains behind bars to this day.
The Early Life Of Kermit Gosnell
Kermit Barron Gosnell was born on Feb. 9, 1941, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a bright student who graduated from the esteemed Central High School in 1959, and he later briefly attended the University of Pennsylvania.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, Gosnell attended medical school at Thomas Jefferson University. He spent the next several decades focusing on helping immigrants, refugees, and people living in poverty, first establishing a program for struggling teens and a drug rehab clinic.
Public DomainFetal remains in the freezer of Kermit Gosnell’s women’s clinic.
Gosnell was an early supporter of abortion rights, telling the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1972, “As a physician, I am very concerned about the sanctity of life. But it is for this precise reason that I provide abortions for women who want and need them.”
However, Gosnell also sparked controversy from the beginning of his career. During the so-called “Mother’s Day Massacre of 1972,” he performed 15 televised abortions on women in their second trimester of pregnancy using a plastic ball embedded with razor blades that was inserted into the uterus. Nine of the women had complications, and one needed a hysterectomy after the procedure, per a 1974 study published in Health Service Reports.
That same year, Kermit Gosnell opened the Women’s Medical Society in West Philadelphia.
The Horrific Conditions At The Women’s Medical Society
While he was described by the Inquirer as a “respected man” of Philadelphia and became a finalist for the city’s “Young Philadelphian of the Year,” Gosnell had a $41,000 federal tax lien on his clinic by the late 1980s. This presumably motivated him to bring in as many clients as possible.
The Women’s Medical Society provided family planning, gynecological services, and standard abortions, though word quickly spread that Gosnell performed late-term abortions without question. Many of his clients were low-income patients desperate for abortions beyond Pennsylvania’s 24-week legal limit.
The doctor charged between $1,600 and $3,000 for each late-term abortion, reportedly bringing in as much as $15,000 every day. Despite this hefty income, the clinic was filthy, and Gosnell’s staff members were unqualified. Women seeking abortion services would be given sedatives and labor-inducing medications and placed on toilets to give birth. Staff would then collect the fetuses from the water.
Public DomainAn abortion price sheet included in the grand jury report of Kermit Gosnell’s case.
If the babies were still alive, their spinal cords would be snipped with scissors to kill them. The women were then led into recovery rooms to sit on dirty recliners with blood-stained blankets.
There were plenty of complaints about the Women’s Medical Society, but city officials went 16 years without inspecting it. In fact, it was only when authorities were tipped off about a prescription pill mill being run from the clinic that Kermit Gosnell’s horrific crimes came to light.
Uncovering The West Philadelphia ‘House Of Horrors’
In June 2008, Gosnell reportedly began illegally prescribing medications like oxycodone, alprazolam, and codeine to patients who didn’t need them. Some of them came in for brief exams, while others never met the doctor at all. They simply called the clinic, requested the drugs, and filled the prescriptions that Gosnell wrote for them.
The doctor reportedly charged up to $150 for the first prescription and $20 for each refill. In January 2010, he wrote at least 2,300 of these prescriptions. After receiving a tip about the pill mill, the FBI raided the Women’s Medical Society on Feb. 18, 2010 — and that’s when they learned the extent of his late-term abortion practice.
According to a 2014 press release by the House Judiciary Committee, authorities searching the “House of Horrors” were stunned by the filthy conditions inside. “The bathrooms were cleaned just once a week despite the fact that patients were vomiting in the sinks and delivering babies in the toilets,” the release read.
Google MapsKermit Gosnell’s clinic in West Philadelphia.
“[I]n all, the remains of 45 fetuses were recovered at the clinic that evening and turned over to the Philadelphia medical examiner, who confirmed that at least two of them, and probably three, had been viable,” continued the report.
It was also discovered that at least one woman, a 41-year-old Bhutan refugee named Karnamaya Mongar, died from an overdose of medication administered by his unlicensed staff.
Gosnell was ultimately indicted in 2011 on eight counts of murder, including one for Mongar and seven for the deaths of viable infants, and numerous violations of the state’s Abortion Control Act. Kermit Gosnell’s trial would reveal evidence that he had conducted thousands of illegal abortions — and potentially killed hundreds of live babies.
The Criminal Trial Of Kermit Gosnell
Kermit Gosnell’s trial began in March 2013 and spanned several weeks. Prosecutors made no qualms about presenting graphic evidence to the jury, including photos of the clinic, the fetal remains discovered inside, and testimony from former employees who admitted to participating in murdering newborns.
Gosnell was found guilty in May 2013 of three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of infants, as well as one count of involuntary manslaughter for Mongar’s death. He was also found guilty of dozens of lesser charges related to medical malpractice and abortion law violations.
Public DomainKarnamaya Mongar, the 41-year-old woman who died after receiving sedatives at Kermit Gosnell’s clinic in 2009.
The disgraced doctor ultimately waived his right to an appeal in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. His wife and several ex-employees were also convicted and sentenced for their roles in many of these crimes.
“My comprehension of the English language can’t adequately describe the barbaric nature of Dr. Gosnell,” said Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams, adding, “Pennsylvania is not a third-world country. There were several oversight agencies that stumbled upon and should have shut down Kermit Gosnell long ago.”
Gosnell remains incarcerated at the State Correctional Institute in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He has made few statements to the media since his sentencing, but he maintains a posture of defiance, arguing that he only ever acted in the best interest of his patients.
After learning about the crimes of Kermit Gosnell, read about serial killer Ed Kemper. Then, discover the story of Phoenix “Serial Shooter” Dale Hausner.