On January 31, 1998, a then 15 year old Robyn Reid sought an abortion from Gosnell’s clinic. Once she was in the clinic, though, Reid, an 87-pound teenager at the time, told Gosnell she changed her mind about the abortion. She claims Gosnell got upset, ripped off her clothes, restrained her, and repeatedly told her, “This is the same care that I would give to my own daughter.” Reid regained consciousness 12 hours later at her aunt’s home, with the abortion having been completed against her will.
This week marks one year since Kermit Gosnell, an abortionist from Pennsylvania, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder. Here are 9 things you should know about the case of America’s most prolific serial killer:
1. Gosnell was arrested in January 2011, charged with eight counts of murder: one patient died under his care after a botched abortion, and seven infants supposedly born alive whose spinal cords Gosnell severed with scissors.
2. According to prosecutors in Philadelphia, Gosnell catered to minorities, immigrants, and poor women, and made millions of dollars over 30 years performing illegal and late-term abortions in squalid and barbaric conditions. Gosnell took extra precautions with white women from the suburbs, according to the grand jury report. He ushered them into a slightly cleaner area because he thought they would be more likely to file a complaint.
3. Women paid $325 for first-trimester abortions and $1,600 to $3,000 for abortions up to 30 weeks. The clinic took in up to $15,000 a day, said authorities. Although abortions after the 24th week are illegal, Gosnell aborted and killed babies in the sixth and seventh months of pregnancy and charged more for bigger babies.
4. According to the grand jury report, the clinic reeked of animal urine and the furniture and blankets were stained with blood. Medical instruments found in the practice had not been properly sterilized. State officials have failed to visit or inspect his abortion clinic since 1993. Prosecutors also claim that Gosnell was not certified in either gynecology or obstetrics.
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