Gosnell’s Abortion Clinic Equipment Shown to Public, Body Parts Still in Disposal

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 5, 2013   |   10:22AM   |   Philadelphia, PA

The filthy equipment from Kermit Gosnell’s dilapidated abortion business is being shown to the public for the first time.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office released footage of the medical equipment taken from Gosnell’s abortion center that was used in the courtroom during the trial of the abortion practitioner on murder charges. The equipment they are showing includes an exam table, recliner and electronic monitoring machines and they come from Gosnell’s West Philadelphia facility, the Women’s Medical Society.

The equipment sat in the courtroom for two months and is now finally on display for the public to see, according to a local report:

In a video recorded by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, several pieces of the equipment were put on display – with the largest item being one of the clinic’s examination tables.Stained and tattered, the table still had sanitary paper and stirrups attached. Proseuctors said the table would regularly be used for abortion procedures and that former employees said dried blood would often be caked to the medical equipment.

A garbage disposal taken from the clinic’s break room was set on top of a storage drawer. Taggart said investigators learned the employees would dispose of fetal remains in the sink and use the disposal to move them down the drain. Human bones were found inside the appliance, prosecutors said.

“They were shoving body parts down the garbage disposal,” said Taggart. “To the point where they plunged it one day and an arm popped out on Lancaster Avenue.”

Investigators who visited the facility at 3801 Lancaster Avenue described the clinic as filthy, wretched and macabre.

“The smells were just unbearable,” Philadelphia Police Crime Scene Investigator John Taggart said following the trial. “You could tell there was death somewhere.”

The conditions found inside the facility led Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to call the clinic a “house of horrors” in a 2011 grand jury report.

During the trial’s opening arguments on March 18, lead prosecutor Joanne Pescatore told the jury she wanted to bring the group to the clinic, but was not allowed. So she decided to recreate the clinic in court.

“We’re going bring the facility to you,” Pescatore said at the time. “You’re going to live it with us.”

In a video recorded by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, several pieces of the equipment were put on display – with the largest item being one of the clinic’s examination tables.

Stained and tattered, the table still had sanitary paper and stirrups attached. Proseuctors said the table would regularly be used for abortion procedures and that former employees said dried blood would often be caked to the medical equipment.

A garbage disposal taken from the clinic’s break room was set on top of a storage drawer. Taggart said investigators learned the employees would dispose of fetal remains in the sink and use the disposal to move them down the drain. Human bones were found inside the appliance, prosecutors said.

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“They were shoving body parts down the garbage disposal,” said Taggart. “To the point where they plunged it one day and an arm popped out on Lancaster Avenue.”

Filthy, corroded tubing — stained over time by blood and dirt — were left coiled on the floor. Some of the tubing that was used for suction during abortion procedures also doubled as a suction source for patient resuscitation, according to prosecutors.

A medical kit marked “For emergency tracheotomy” was brown in color and other procedure tools inside a bin underneath the kit had a yellow tint.

A large gray recliner was ripped in several places and had white stains on the seat. Prosecutors say the recliners were used by patients before and after abortion procedures.