Press Releases

GOODLATTE STATEMENT ON KERMIT GOSNELL CONVICTION ONE YEAR AGO

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today marks one year since the conviction of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell for the murder of three infants born alive during abortion procedures, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion and 211 counts of violating the 24-hour informed consent law. Gosnell is now serving life in prison. 

Gosnell ran what was known as the “House of Horrors,” an unregulated late-term abortion clinic in Philadelphia that had not been inspected for 17 years. 

Congressman Goodlatte provided the following statement on the conviction:

“Last year, the American people were revolted by horrendous accounts of medical malpractice, unsanitary conditions and the murder of innocent lives from Kermit Gosnell’s unregulated late-term abortion clinic known as the ‘House of Horrors’ in Philadelphia. The story was initially dismissed by many in mainstream media as a ‘local crime’ story. Thanks to several brave journalists, this issue was brought to the attention of mainstream media and the American people. 

“A year after his conviction to a life behind bars, the name ‘Kermit Gosnell’ has become synonymous with his unlawful clinic that subjected women who were often poor and disadvantaged to atrocious health-threatening and privacy-violating conditions, and to his actions that led to the death of many infants born alive and women who died following the procedure. 

“The infants and women harmed by this clinic are in my thoughts and prayers on this day, and my sincerest thanks goes to those who brought the atrocious Kermit Gosnell case into the public light and to justice.”

Background: Kermit Gosnell gained a reputation for his willingness to perform unlawful late-term abortions. Atrocious medical malpractices were discovered in his clinic, including disgusting conditions former employees described in the Grand Jury Report as “blood-splattered floors, and blood-stained chairs in which patients waited for and then recovered from abortions. (…) The bathrooms were cleaned just once a week despite the fact that patients were vomiting in the sinks and delivering babies in the toilets.” Gosnell’s practice included stabbing infants to death with scissors and cutting their spinal cords, and letting patients bleed for hours on dirty blankets, chairs or on the toilet without supervision. Instruments were not sterilized, fetal remains were scattered throughout the clinic in jars, in the refrigerator and in the basement, and Gosnell and his staff were not medically-licensed physicians or nurses. Law enforcement investigators found “medical waste piled high” and “in all, the remains of 45 fetuses were recovered at the clinic that evening and turned over to the Philadelphia medical examiner, who confirmed that at least two of them, and probably three, had been viable.”

Gosnell’s trial also examined gross violations of health standards and medical practice in his treatment of patients. Gosnell was found guilty in one instance that resulted in the death of a patient, Karnamaya Mongar, who was given a lethal drug overdose during her abortion procedure and died following a cardiac arrest without monitoring from Gosnell or his staff.