A Philadelphia doctor has been convicted of the first-degree murders of three babies delivered and killed with scissors in late-term abortions2.
费城一位医生因在妊娠晚期流产手术中用手术剪杀死三名婴儿被判一级谋杀罪。
Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, was
acquitted3 on another charge of
killing4 a fourth baby, who let out a
whimper（呜咽声） before he cut its neck,
prosecutors6 said.
He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter（过失杀人罪） of an adult patient who died of an overdose.
The case was seized on by both sides in the US debate over
abortion1.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Gosnell.
He performed thousands of abortions over a career spanning three decades. Officials said his medical practice earned him about $1.8m (£1.1m) a year.
'House of horrors'
Former staff members of the clinic testified that he had routinely performed illegal late-term abortions past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit.
The trial heard how Gosnell would deliver babies alive then use scissors to "
snip7" - as he referred to it - their
spines8.
Among the untrained staff who helped to perform the terminations was Gosnell's wife, Pearl. She pleaded guilty to a number of charges and testified against him.
The trial heard that one of the babies was almost 30 weeks when
aborted9. Gosnell had joked that the baby was big enough to "walk to the bus". A second foetus was said to have clung to life for about 20 minutes.
The attorney branded prosecutors "
racist17" for pursuing his client, who is black. Gosnell did not testify and no witnesses were called in his defence.
Prosecutors said Gosnell had run a
filthy18 "house of horrors" with unqualified staff - including those who administered a
lethal19 dose of
sedatives20 to Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old refugee from Nepal.
Defence lawyers had argued the abortion patient's 2009 death was a result of unforeseen complications.
Prosecutor5 Ed Cameron said to Gosnell during closing arguments: "Are you human? To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?"
"He created an assembly line with no regard for these women whatsoever," Mr Cameron had said.
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