Abortionist and convicted serial killer Kermit Gosnell, believed to have murdered thousands of infants and convicted of involuntary manslaughter of a woman, died in prison at 85.
Gosnell died two weeks ago of unknown causes, but his death went unreported until March 23, when Irish husband‑and‑wife documentary filmmaking team Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney reported it.
For 30 years, Gosnell operated out of an abortion clinic with conditions so disturbing it was nicknamed the “house of horrors” after law enforcement raided the clinic that had gone unchecked.
Gosnell hoarded baby body parts in the abortion facility in Philadelphia, where law enforcement found blood-stained rooms, rusting and unsanitary medical equipment, flea-infested cats and cat feces, as well as severed feet of unborn babies preserved in specimen jars and body parts in the freezer next to staff lunches.
Convicted in 2013 of first-degree murder of three infants, Gosnell was sentenced to three consecutive life terms without parole, among other concurrent sentences. Gosnell would “snip” the spinal cords of the children born alive during illegal late-term abortions after inducing labor in pregnant women, according to employee testimony. Former clinic staff testified that this occurred hundreds of times.
Gosnell was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old refugee from Bhutan, who died of a lethal overdose of anesthesia administered by unlicensed staff in 2009.
Gosnell earned an estimated $1.8 million per year.
The Department of Health in Pennsylvania did not intervene in spite of the death of two women, injuries of many more, and years of complaints from staff and patients. Two high-ranking health department officials were fired after the clinic was exposed. The crimes were uncovered when Detective Jim Wood led a raid, along with the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, of the clinic on Feb. 18, 2010.
A 2018 film about Gosnell’s trial named him “America’s biggest serial killer.”
“May God have mercy on his soul but his soul was filled with evil so there may be no mercy for him, like there was no mercy for the babies,” said Wood, the detective who brought Gosnell to justice.
Maria V. Gallagher, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation of National Right to Life, said: “We continue to grieve the loss of the babies and women who fell victim to Gosnell’s violent crime spree. And we hold out hope that the lessons learned from Gosnell’s reign of terror will not be forgotten.”
“Tragically, public officials allowed his House of Horrors abortion facility to operate for years without being inspected,” Gallagher said. “As the grand jury stated, hair and nail salons received greater scrutiny than Gosnell’s catastrophic abortion center.”
“We at Students for Life pray that he repented before dying,” said a statement from Students for Life of America. “His operation was profit-driven, dangerous, and even led to the death of a mother.”
