Philly abortion murder trial has national impact

For weeks, jurors in Philadelphia heard grim testimony about deaths and squalor at Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s inner-city abortion clinic. While they listened, the murder case reverberated far beyond the courtroom, changing — at least for the moment — the tone of the national debate on abortion.

Groups supporting legal access to abortion find themselves on the defensive as they distance themselves from Gosnell.

 

 

Anti-abortion activists, in contrast, are citing the case in fundraising appeals and renewing efforts to expand state restrictions on abortion.

Gosnell is charged with killing five people — a patient and four viable babies that prosecutors say were born alive. Among scores of other counts, he also is accused of performing abortions after Pennsylvania’s 24-week limit.

Jury deliberations began April 30 and are scheduled to resume Monday.