From The Philadelphia Enquirer:
West Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell routinely delivered live babies in the third trimester of pregnancy, then murdered them by "sticking scissors into the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord," according to a grand jury report.
One newborn who weighed almost six pounds was so big, the report said, "the doctor joked . . . this baby 'could walk me to the bus stop.' "Those are among the jaw-dropping details - complete with photographs - in a 260-page grand jury report released Wednesday that charges Gosnell, 69, with the murder of a patient and seven infants.
The report caps a yearlong investigation of Gosnell and his Lancaster Avenue clinic, which was shut down after a raid last February.
But the report is sure to be just the beginning of finger-pointing and soul-searching as city and state health officials, legislators, and those on both sides of the bitter abortion debate seek to understand how the clinic operated for 31 years, apparently with little oversight.
"The inaction of public agencies is exposed," District Attorney Seth Williams said Wednesday at a news conference.In addition to Gosnell, his wife, Pearl, and eight employees - none of whom had medical credentials, authorities say - were arrested Wednesday morning. Four of the workers are also facing murder charges.
Williams said the prosecution was not about the morality of abortion.
"I am aware that abortion is a hot-button topic," he said. "But as district attorney, my job is to carry out the law. A doctor who knowingly and systematically mistreats female patients, to the point that one of them dies in his so-called care, commits murder under the law."
Philadelphia lawyer William Brennan, who represented Gosnell before Wednesday's arrest, said he had not read the report and had not been formally retained as Gosnell's attorney.
"I would say simply that it's important to remember that Dr. Gosnell is presumed to be innocent," Brennan said.
The investigation began last February, after federal and state drug agents and Philadelphia police raided the clinic at 3801 Lancaster Ave. on suspicion that Gosnell was illegally dispensing narcotic painkillers. (A federal drug-trafficking investigation is continuing.)
What they found, according to the report, was "filthy, deplorable, and disgusting": blood on the floor; the stench of urine; cat feces on the stairs; semiconscious women moaning in the waiting or recovery rooms, covered with bloodstained blankets; broken equipment; blocked or locked exits.
The investigators also learned that in November 2009 an abortion patient had died.
That prompted state authorities to yank Gosnell's medical license and shut down the clinic.
Gosnell is now charged with third-degree murder in the death of that woman, Karnamaya Mongar, 41, who had traveled from Woodbridge, Va., for an abortion. A native of the Asian nation of Bhutan who had arrived in the United States only five months earlier, Mongar was 19 weeks pregnant. She developed a fatal heart arrhythmia after being overdosed with anesthetics by an unlicensed caregiver, the report says.
The grand jury also alleges that Gosnell and his staff delayed calling 911, attempted to deceive paramedics when they arrived, and then couldn't find the key for the emergency exit lock so the patient could be carried out to the ambulance. Responders finally had to cut the lock open.
That February raid was the beginning, Williams said, of ever more shocking discoveries that revealed Gosnell had been flouting Pennsylvania's abortion law - and medical licensing laws - for many years.
Gosnell, a family physician, received Pennsylvania Department of Health approval to do abortions at his clinic in 1979, after an on-site inspection.
Although Gosnell was never trained as an obstetrician-gynecologist, he began doing abortions at another clinic in the 1970s. In 1972, he made national headlines - and prompted a federal investigation - for using an experimental abortion-inducing device similar to an IUD on 15 low-income women, nine of whom developed serious complications. Gosnell was never charged in those cases.
From the start, he was well-known for being willing to do abortions beyond 12 weeks - the limit set by many clinics - and for treating poor and minority women.
Pennsylvania, which has one of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws, requires that a woman be counseled about alternatives and wait 24 hours before the procedure.
The state also requires that fetal tissue from abortions after 20 weeks be sent to a pathologist for review.
Abortions after 24 weeks - when the fetus can usually survive outside the womb - are outlawed unless the doctor determines, and reports to authorities, that the abortion "is necessary to preserve maternal life or health."
If the chosen abortion method might enable a live birth, the law says, a second physician must be "in the same room" and provide medical care to the newborn.Gosnell not only ignored these requirements, he also falsified ultrasound and state reports to cover his post-24-week abortions, the report found.
"Gosnell's approach, whenever possible, was to force full labor and delivery of premature infants on ill-informed women," the report says. "When you perform late-term 'abortions' by inducing labor, you get babies. Live, breathing, squirming babies. . . . Gosnell had a simple solution: he killed them . . . by sticking scissors into the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord."
Williams said the grand jury heard testimony that Gosnell performed the procedure, which he called "snipping," hundreds of times, but most cannot be prosecuted because the evidence is gone.
Still, investigators found fetal bodies and body parts in garbage bags, plastic boxes, and bottles at the clinic, the report said.
One of the seven alleged cases of infanticide that have been documented is "Baby Boy A" - the newborn about whom Gosnell allegedly made the bus-stop joke.
"His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant - seven and a half months - when labor was induced," the report says.Charged by the Grand Jury
Kermit Gosnell, 69, is charged with third-degree murder in the death of Karnamaya Mongar, 41. Gosnell is also facing seven murder charges in the deaths of infants who were allegedly killed after being born viable and alive during the sixth, seventh, and eighth months of pregnancies.
Lynda Williams, 42, of Wilmington. Third-degree murder in the death of the patient and murder in the death of live infant.
Sherry West, 51, of Newark, Del. Third-degree murder in the death of the patient, performing illegal abortions, conspiracy, racketeering, tampering with records, hindering prosecution, obstructing administration of law, and other related offenses.
Adrienne Moton, 33, of Upper Darby. Murder in the death of a live infant, conspiracy, and racketeering.
Steven Massof, 48, of Pittsburgh. Murder in the deaths of two viable babies born alive, conspiracy, theft by deception, racketeering, and other related charges.
Elizabeth Hampton, 51, of the 5000 block of Arch Street, Philadelphia. Gosnell's sister-in-law, she is charged with obstruction, hindering prosecution, and perjury.
Eileen O'Neill, 54, of Phoenixville. A medical-school graduate who worked as a doctor at the clinic without a license or certification, she is charged with theft by deception, conspiracy, racketeering, and perjury.
Tina Baldwin, of South 63d Street, Philadelphia. An unlicensed worker, she is charged with racketeering, conspiracy, and corruption of a minor for allegedly allowing her 15-year-old daughter to administer anesthesia to patients.
Pearl Gosnell, 49, of Philadelphia. Gosnell's wife, she is charged with performing an abortion at 24 or more weeks, conspiracy, and other related offenses.
Maddline Joe, 53, of the 800 block of Atwood Road, Philadelphia. The office manager, she is charged with conspiracy.
Kermit Gosnell Biography
Age: 69.
Business: Women's Medical Society.
Location: 3801 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia.
Medical School: Jefferson Medical College, 1966.
Licensed as physician and surgeon in Pennsylvania: 1967.
Malpractice suits: At least 10 since 1981.Abortions per year before closure: About 1,000.
View on abortion: In 1972, he told an Inquirer reporter: "I personally would never agree to have an abortion performed on any woman bearing my child. 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."
Time Line of Events
1972 He helps test an experimental device and does "super coil abortions" on 15 women. Nine suffer serious complications; one woman gets a hysterectomy.
1973 The Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision makes abortion legal up to fetal viability, about 24 weeks.
1979 Gosnell receives state Health Department approval to do abortions at the Women's Medical Society clinic.
1996 He is fined $1,000 for employing an unlicensed physician assistant.
2004 Presbyterian Medical Center revokes Gosnell's privileges to practice there.
2007 Gosnell performs an abortion on a minor without a parent's consent. He pays $10,000 to settle the case.
Nov. 20, 2009 Karnamaya Mongar, 41, an immigrant from Bhutan, dies after an abortion procedure at Gosnell's clinic.
Feb. 18, 2010 The Drug Enforcement Administration raids Women's Medical on Lancaster Avenue, investigating concerns that Gosnell was illegally dispensing narcotic painkillers.
Feb 22, 2010 State authorities suspend his medical license, citing conditions that were "deplorable and unsanitary."
May 5, 2010 State health officials move to permanently close Gosnell's clinic.
Jan. 19, 2011 Philadelphia district attorney charges Gosnell with killing one woman and seven babies who prosecutors believe were born alive.
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