The face of evil
Ex Gosnell employee recounts horrors of abortion process
Philly.com: Even four years later, a look of horror was on Sherry West’s face as she told a Philadelphia jury of the time a staffer asked her to help out with a problem in the abortion procedure room at Kermit Gosnell’s Women’s Medical Society clinic.
“There was this clear glass pan and I saw it and I thought, ‘What do you expect me to do?’” West testified today at Gosnell’s murder trial.
“It’s wasn’t fully developed,” West told the Common Pleas Court jury, referring to the 18- to 24-inch long newborn in the pan. It didn’t have eyes or a mouth but it was like screeching, making this noise. It was weird, it sounded like a little alien.”
West
Questioned by Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore, West, 53, testified that she does not know what happened to what she called the “specimen” because “it was easier to deal with mentally.”
“It really freaked me out and I said call Dr. Gosnell and I went back out front,” West added.
Testifying under a deal with prosecutors after she pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and related charges in the overdose death of a Gosnell patient during an abortion, West was the leadoff witness as the trial entered its fourth week of testimony. West returns to the witness stand later today to be questioned by Gosnell attorney Jack McMahon.
Gosnell, 72, is on trial on seven counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing infants born alive and viable during illegal late-term abortions. He faces a possible death sentenced if the jury finds him guilty.
Gosnell is also charged with third-degree murder in the 2009 death of a Virginia woman who prosecutors alleged was given too much Demerol by Gosnell’s untrained staff.
Also on trial is Eileen O’Neill, 56, of Phoenixville, an unlicensed physician who saw patients as part of Gosnell’s family practice. She is not charged with performing abortions; she is charged with taking part in a “corrupt organization.”
Like three other Gosnell employees who have testified, West was hired by Gosnell as she was going through personal problems. West testified that she had worked as a surgical technician at the veteran’s hospital in West Philadelphia but in 2007 contracted hepatitis C and developed problems with anxiety and depression.
She applied for Social Security disability benefits but by late 2008 she said she had not been approved and had not earned a salary for almost two years.
Gosnell had been her personal physician for more than 20 years, West testified, and she asked him to “help her find a job under the table. He said he could help me with that.”
Though untrained, West said she learned to perform ultrasound exams on pregnant women, and administer oral and IV sedatives and medication.
West said she was present on Nov. 19, 2009 when 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar, of Virginia, went into cardiac arrest during an abortion procedure at the clinic at 3801 Lancaster Ave. in West Philadelphia.
Several days later, West said, Gosnell held a staff meeting. It was not to review medical protocols to prevent a reoccurrence. Instead, Gosnell instructed them on what to say to police or other investigators.
West did as she was told and also relayed back to Gosnell information about what was asked of her during police interrogations. “I felt a loyalty to him because he had been my doctor for so long,” West testified.
I will keep you updated as this case continues. Pray for justice for those killed by this evil man.
DCG