Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia-based abortion doctor convicted in 2013 of killing three babies born alive in a case that made national headlines in the US, has died at the age of 85.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed this week that Gosnell died on March 1 at a hospital outside the prison system. He had been incarcerated at State Correctional Institution – Smithfield, approximately 60 miles south of Pittsburgh. The cause of death has not been released.
Gosnell’s trial in 2013 drew outrage and exposed serious abuses within his abortion business, including unsanitary conditions, late-term procedures, so-called “born-alive” cases, and the retention of foetal remains. He was convicted on three counts of murder for severing the spinal cords of infants delivered alive, as well as one count of manslaughter in connection with the death of a woman. In addition, he faced more than 200 other charges, including violations of Pennsylvania law relating to illegal third-trimester abortions, while a grand jury indicated concerns that further offences may have occurred. He received a life sentence.
Irish filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer produced the award-winning 2016 film Gosnell, a US box office hit, which recounts Gosnell’s crimes and laid bare the widespread political and media collusion that for years – in the name of ‘choice’ – covered up what was happening behind closed doors at Gosnell’s clinic.