Infamous Abortionist Who Ran ‘House Of Horrors’ Dies In Prison At 85

An infamous Pennsylvania abortionist convicted of murder for killing babies born alive during illegal late-term procedures has died while serving multiple life sentences in prison, state officials said Monday. 

Kermit Gosnell, 85, died March 1 after being transported from the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon to a hospital. He had been serving multiple life sentences following his 2013 conviction on three counts of first-degree murder. His West Philadelphia abortion facility was dubbed the “House of Horrors.” 

The Gosnell case drew national attention after pro-life advocates highlighted the brutal nature of his abortion practice. Many of the gruesome details came out during his 2013 trial and through a grand jury report. 

“This case is about a doctor who killed babies and endangered women,” the Pennsylvania grand jury report said. “He regularly and illegally delivered live, viable babies in the third trimester of pregnancy – and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors.” 

Testimony during the trial described the practice in detail. Steven Massof, one of Gosnell’s former employees, explained the process. “We call it a transection, but it’s literally a beheading,” he testified. 

Massof estimated that around 100 babies had their spinal cords snipped. He said he “felt like a fireman in hell. I couldn’t put out all the fires. … I would run around with scissors.”

The grand jury report documented one case involving a 17-year-old whose baby was delivered at around 30 weeks. According to the report, the infant was “breathing and moving” before being killed.

“He was breathing and moving when Dr. Gosnell severed his spine and put the body in a plastic shoebox for disposal. The doctor joked that this baby was so big he could ‘walk me to the bus stop,’” it said. 

Gosnell denied that any infants were born alive, claiming that movements observed by staff were involuntary.

During the trial, jury members were shown pictures of unborn babies who had been killed by Gosnell, showing how their skulls had been crushed and spinal cords cut. 

Other workers stated that Gosnell stored baby parts in jars in a refrigerator and routinely did abortions past 24 weeks of gestation. “The bigger the baby, the more he charged,” the grand jury report stated. 

The investigation further found that Gosnell’s clinic operated in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. The grand jury described blood-stained furniture, improperly sterilized instruments, and the storage of fetal remains throughout the facility.

“It was a baby charnel house,” the grand jury said.

Gosnell was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a woman who died in his facility during an abortion. 

Additionally, he pled guilty to federal charges related to running a pill mill out of his facility and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including oxycodone, alprazolam, and codeine.