“House of Horrors” abortionist Kermit Gosnell — convicted on three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter — believes he is “spiritually innocent” and has been penning poetry in jail.
A new e-book by Philadelphia magazine writer Steve Volk offers a glimpse into the mindset of the man who snipped the spines of babies born alive in botched abortions and operated on vulnerable women in unsanitary, disgusting conditions.
According to a report about the e-book appearing in the Philadelphia magazine blog, Gosnell told Volk that he believes he was helping the community.
“In an ideal world,” Gosnell told Philadelphia magazine, “we’d have no need for abortion. But bringing a child into the world when it cannot be provided for, that there are not sufficient systems to support, is a greater sin.”
“I considered myself to be in a war against poverty, and I feel comfortable with the things I did and the decisions I made,” he added.
Gosnell still believes he is “innocent” of the charges, when asked by Volk if he meant “spiritually innocent,” Gosnell responded in the affirmative. The convicted murderer reportedly believes that his conviction was motivated by religion.
“I have come to believe that the presumption of guilt was compounded by religious convictions,” Gosnell said, according to the Philadelphia magazine write-up. ” … Were you aware that Seth [Williams, Philadelphia’s district attorney] was an altar boy? Did you know of the strong Catholic presence in the homicide division?”
Volk said that in the course of his reporting over the summer, he received 12 letters, over 50 emails, over 24 calls and poems from the Philadelphia doctor.
A Gosnell poem dated April 2013 published in full at the Philadelphia magazine blog reads:
Abortion Providers
Are Labeled Killers!
Horrendous, Exploitive
Barbaric, Inhumane
Not Physicians, Oathed To Heal
Lest We Forget, What Chance Have Those?
Those Without The Support
Of Their Parents
Their Families
Their Communities
Their Societies …
So Many Without Sufficient Support
Stumble Into Drugs
Into Crime
Into Mental Illness
Into Institutions … And …
Languish in Jails …
Volk elaborated on Gosnell’s mindset to ABC News.
“It’s not as if he feels guilty about what he did,” Volk said. “He sees the world is a dark place. He sees himself as having performed a noble function in society. For him, in a perfect, idealized world, it wouldn’t be necessary.”
Gosnell operated as the abortionist at the Women’s Medical Society in Philadelphia for decades. The grand jury report detailed the deplorable conditions of Gosnell’s facilities and his treatment of the women and babies in his care — resulting in the deaths of babies born alive in botched abortions and the death of at least one women.
His butchery was only discovered by accident when the FBI raided his facilities on unrelated drug charges and discovered what has been dubbed Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” in 2011.
Gosnell was convicted of multiple counts of murder in May.
