Abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell has no remorse for his role in the brutal abortion-infanticides he engaged in at his Philadelphia abortion business.
Gosnell was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive after an abortion process that involved jabbing them in the neck with scissors. He gave up his right to appeal the verdict that found him guilty on three of the four first-degree murder charges he faced. As a result, prosecutors agreed to two life terms in prison and Gosnell would not face the death penalty.
Gosnell faced sentencing for killing a woman in a failed abortion. Gosnell was also sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison for that and will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The prosecutors originally sought the death penalty because Gosnell killed more than one person and because of the age of the newborn babies involved. They also agreed to the life sentences in prison because Gosnell’s age made it unlikely he would be executed before his appeals ran out, as he would die naturally beforehand.
Now, Steve Volk of Philadelphia Magazine, in a new interview with Gosnell, says the abortion practitioner has no remorse over what he did.
“He believes himself to be innocent … in this larger spiritual sense. He believes he was performing a service for people that asked him,” said Volt, whose article “Gosnell’s Babies” will appear in Philadelphia magazine on Tuesday. “He believes he was a soldier at war with poverty. He has a sense of righteousness, that whatever rule he broke, it was worth it.”
Volk, who covered Gosnell’s trial and has been speaking and corresponding with him since he entered prison, said that the convicted killer sees abortion as sinful on some level, but a lesser sin than a child being born into a life of poverty.
“It’s not as if he feels guilty about what he did. He sees the world is a dark place. He sees himself as having performed a noble function in society. For him, in a perfect, idealized world, it wouldn’t be necessary,” Volk said.
“He believes that he gained insight into what it’s like to be pushed into the system, without the capacity to explain himself,” Volk said. “He believes if he could have spoken about his rationale for doing things, he wouldn’t be in jail … There is no anger, no desperation [in his voice.] He believes he was in a war, and that ‘they’ won.”
While in jail he has been reading the Bible, perfecting his Spanish, exercising, and has been contacting charities, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative in attempts to be heard on issues like prison and justice reform.
In total, Gosnell was found guilty of 21 out of 24 felony counts of illegal abortions beyond the 24 week limit and found guilty on all but 16 of 227 misdemeanor counts of violating the 24-hour informed consent law.
Below are the details related to the four babies Gosnell was charged with killing:
Baby Boy A was the biggest baby that Kareema Cross had ever seen delivered at Gosnell’s abortion “House of Horrors” clinic in the four years she worked there. He was delivered to 17-year old Shaquana Abrams at 29.4 weeks gestation, according to an ultrasound record. Baby Boy A was so large, he did not fit into the plastic shoe box that Gosnell tossed him in. Cross said she saw the baby pull in his arms and legs while Gosnell explained the movements as “reflexes” telling her the baby really didn’t move prior to cutting the baby’s neck. Baby Boy A was so large, Gosnell joked that “this baby is big enough to walk around with me or walk me to the bus stop.” Cross and fellow employees Adrienne Moton and 15-year old Ashley Baldwin were all so “startled” by the size of the baby that they all took photos of the baby with their cell phones.
Baby C was an intact baby of over 25-weeks gestation. Kareema Cross testified that she saw Baby C breathing and described the up and down chest movements she observed for 20 minutes. She told the court she saw Lynda Williams lift the baby’s arm and watched as the newborn drew it back on its own power. Afterwards, Williams inserted surgical scissors into the baby’s neck and “snipped” the spinal cord. Gosnell was said to be in the room at the time. This baby’s murder charges were unintentionally dismissed in the place of Baby F, but were reinstated after Judge Minehart discovered his error.
Baby D was described by witnesses as 12-15 inches long with the head the size of a “big pancake” when he was delivered into a toilet. Kareema Cross testified that she saw the baby struggling, using swimming motions in an attempt to get out of the toilet bowl. Adrienne Moton pulled the baby out and “snipped” the neck, as Gosnell had taught her to do, while the mother watched. Gosnell has also been charged with Criminal Solicitation of Moton to commit murder of Baby D.
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Baby E was estimated to be at least 23 weeks gestation and maybe more. After Baby E was delivered, teen Ashley Baldwin heard the baby cry and called Kareema Cross for help. Cross described the baby’s cry as a “whine.” Baldwin said that Gosnell when into the room then came out with the baby — which now had an incision in its neck — and tossed it into the waste bin.
Pearl Gosnell, the wife of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell, will spend anywhere from seven to 23 months in prison for her role in the House of Horrors abortion clinic.
Pearl Gosnell was convicted on charges of racketeering and performing illegal abortion but saw her sentenced reduced after spending two years under house arrest. Pearl’s children had asked the judge, according to local reports in court, to spare her prison time.
