The murder trial began on Monday in Philadelphia of a former abortion doctor who has been charged with cutting the spinal cords of babies after they were born to kill them. The defense tried to paint Dr. Kermit Gosnell as the victim of a “lynching” by an “elitist, racist prosecution” and claimed the witnesses called by the prosecution would not understand the challenges of running an abortion clinic in a “nitty-gritty” neighborhood. Gosnell, 72, ran a West Philadelphia abortion clinic for 30 years, but the prosecution has alleged he performed a high number of illegal abortions after 24 weeks and often preyed on minority patients. Gosnell has been charged with eight counts of murder, and could face the death penalty if convicted.
