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Jury Selection begins in murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell

Mar 4, 2013

By Dave Andrusko

Kermit Gosnell

Kermit Gosnell

Jury selection has begun today in the trial of West Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell on eight counts of murder. In the run up to what promises to be a case that test the limits of your stomach a batch of stories are filling in many of the gaps caused by fading memories.

As all our NRL News Today readers know by now, a little over three years ago, “a federal-state task force raided a rambling three-story building in West Philadelphia suspected as the source of prescription narcotics flooding the streets,” as the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Joseph A. Slobodzian reported today. “The agents who went into the Women’s Medical Society at 3801 Lancaster Avenue found what they were looking for–and much more.”

The list of horribles went on and on and on; we’ll talk about just a few below. But the ultimate bottom line is that based on a withering January 2011 Grand Jury Report, Gosnell will be on trial on seven counts of  first degree murder in the cases of seven “late-term” babies he is said to have deliberately aborted alive and then severed their spinal cords with surgical scissors; and one third-degree murder in the case of 41-year-old refugee Karnamaya Mongar, who died after “repeated injections of strong narcotics, administered in accordance with Gosnell’s standard procedures,” according to the Grand Jury report.

These recent stories remind us:

·         The Grand Jury was certain Gosnell was implicated in the death of another woman but the records were so shoddy they couldn’t prove it. Likewise, Gosnell reportedly aborted HUNDREDS of late-term babies alive but could not be charged on more counts of first-degree murder because there was no paper trial.

·         Eight of nine other employees (including his wife) of the Women’s Medical Center have plead guilty to variety of charges, including conspiracy and participating in a corrupt organization. Most will testify against Gosnell as part of the deal cut with prosecutors. Pearl Gosnell, his third wife and a cosmetologist, pleaded guilty to performing an illegal, late-term abortion and other charges. She will not testify.

·         Speaking of deals there are rumors a plenty that Gosnell may be looking to cut a deal; however unlikely, theoretically the 72-year-old Gosnell could face the death penalty if convicted on one of the first degree murder charges.

·         Estimates are the trial itself could take 8-10 weeks, but how long it will take to pick a jury is anyone’s guess. Gosnell’s “baby charnel house” has garnered international headlines. At least for now, opening arguments are scheduled for March 14.

·         Speaking of international interest, in a story that ran today, the British Daily Mail reported “[S]ome 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.” The newspaper added, three of the eight Gosnell employees “pleaded guilty 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.”

·          Ms. Mongar, who was from Bhutan, did not speak English. “She and her husband and three children had survived 20 years in refugee camps before settling in rural Virginia.” Her family has a civil suit pending over her 2009 death. The Grand Jury report said Gosnell made millions and millions off of his illegal late-term abortions.

·         There had been plenty of complaints about Gosnell over the years but for a host of reasons—indifference, bureaucratic incompetence, the unwillingness to go anywhere near the abortion issue even though women’s lives were at stake—he skated through untouched. That his clientele was mostly poor, inner-city African American women and immigrants only added to a pattern of turning a blind eye.

Finally, “It’s not clear if Gosnell plans to testify, because a gag order has been issued in the case,” according to the AP’s MaryClaire Dale, who had done much of the very best reporting. “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.’

To which Dale added, “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.”

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Categories: Gosnell