Wife: I'm sorry for trusting Pa. abortion doctor

MARYCLAIRE DALE, AP

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The wife of a Philadelphia abortion doctor, a cosmetologist who admitted helping him perform very late-term abortions at his corrupt, grimy clinic, said Wednesday that she was sorry for trusting her husband and was sentenced seven to 23 months in prison.

Pearl Gosnell had pleaded guilty to racketeering and performing an illegal abortion past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit. She said her husband, Kermit, told her the abortions were all performed within the legal limit and she believed him. He was convicted this month of first-degree murder in the deaths of three infants born alive.

"I am the wife of Kermit Gosnell, I am not happy about that now and I haven't been for a long time," Pearl Gosnell, 51, told Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner at her sentencing hearing.

She said her husband took the "cowardly" path for not speaking at his trial or apologizing for his crimes.

The judge gave her time credit for nearly three months she spent in jail after her arrest.

Former employees testified that Kermit Gosnell routinely performed illegal abortions past the 24-week limit; delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing; and dispatched the newborns by "snipping" their spines, as he referred to it.

Gosnell was also convicted in the death of patient Karnamaya Mongar, who was given a fatal overdose of painkillers.

The case became a flashpoint in the nation's polarized abortion debate. Foes said it exposed the true nature of abortion in all its disturbing detail. Abortion rights activists warned that Gosnell's practice foreshadows what women could face if abortion is driven underground with more restrictive laws.

A former clinic employee, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges, was sentenced Wednesday to time served after being jailed for 28 months.

Adrienne Moton, 36, had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges. Lerner said he was sending Moton home and she has shown remorse for her crimes.

In an emotionally wrought statement, Moton told the court she thought she was helping women but never thought about the babies at Gosnell's clinic.

The judge rescheduled the sentencing dates for clinic workers Lynda Williams, 43; Sherry West, 53; and Tina Baldwin, 47, because the women still have unresolved federal drug charges.

West and Baldwin are now scheduled to be sentenced June 24. Williams is due in court July 1.

( this whole case is causing a lot of discomfort on many levels,but at least it has people looking at the issue,not making any helpful dialog on the issue to be sure but at least looking at while making strident cries for their side. when does life truly begin? when are we as citizens responsible ? where does a doctors duty lie? with his patient? which one is his patient? at what point do we go from looking out for the well being of a grown woman and respecting her choices and protecting the lives of potential citizens?  I don't have the answers to this,I feel that the confidentiality between doctor and patient covers much ground and that all options should remain open. hiding anything in a closet won't make it go away, hiding from abortions existence won't get that elephant out of the room, death is death there  is no way to make it clean or pretty,no matter how many flowers you put on the casket. but we are also talking about the freedoms of individuals, no one is forcing anyone to make that choice,and no one is going to choose abortion lightly no matter what sort of baby eating horrors liberal woman may be painted to be. Billions of years of instinct are steering these choices and when all is said and done I am a man and so the true weight of such a choice will never be mine to bear, but it is my duty to protect those choices and the shoulders that ultimately must bear them.)

Associated Press

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