Kermit Gosnell’s crimes centered on his operation of the Women’s Medical Society in Philadelphia, which a 2011 grand jury report described as a filthy “house of horrors”. While investigating him for running an illegal “pill mill” for prescription drugs, authorities discovered a facility filled with bloodstained furniture, unsterilized equipment, and fetal remains stored in household containers. Gosnell routinely performed illegal late-term abortions past Pennsylvania’s 24-week limit, often using untrained staff—including a high school student—to administer dangerous doses of anesthesia.
In 2013, Gosnell was convicted of first-degree murder for the deaths of three infants who were born alive during these procedures. Witnesses testified that he and his staff killed these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors, a practice he called “snipping”.
Additionally, he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the 2009 overdose death of a 41-year-old patient, Karnamaya Mongar. Beyond these deaths, he was convicted of hundreds of violations related to illegal late-term procedures and the fraudulent distribution of over 500,000 pills containing addictive substances like oxycodone.