Kermit Gosnell Won’t Appeal, Avoids Death Penalty

Philadelphia, PA – Abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell has waived his right to appeal his first-degree murder conviction in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

Gosnell, who was convicted by a jury yesterday in the death of three babies, reportedly has made a deal with prosecutors in which he will face life imprisonment instead. “Prosecutors agreed to two life sentences without parole, and Gosnell was to be sentenced Wednesday in the death of the third baby, an involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of a patient and hundreds of lesser counts.”

The doctor was accused of performing illegal, late-term abortions in his inner-city clinic. He ran the Women’s Medical Society in West Philadelphia for decades. But, in February 2010, the FBI raided his clinic looking for evidence of prescription drug dealing. Instead, they found much worse. According to a grand jury report released in 2011, they discovered a filthy “house of horrors.” Along with murder charges, the doctor faced more than 250 counts of abortion-law violations for performing abortions after Pennsylvania’s 24-week cutoff. He also allegedly failed to counsel patients.

The jury heard two months of grisly testimony including accounts from members of Gosnell’s staff. Eight of the staff members have pleaded guilty to several crimes. Prosecutors alleged that none of the staff members were licensed nurses or doctors. Prosecutors alleged that Gosnell delivered at least four babies alive and then killed them by cutting their spines with scissors.

Despite numerous complaints against the Philadelphia abortion doctor, state regulators conducted just five inspections of Kermit Gosnell’s clinic since it opened in 1979. The clinic served mostly low-income women and teens.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty against the 72-year-old physician given the magnitude of the crimes “But Gosnell’s own advanced age had made it unlikely he would ever be executed before his appeals ran out.”

Do you think life imprisonment is a just sentence for Dr. Kermit Gosnell?