This is what abortion does for women’s health!

A doctor who performed abortions was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies who were killed with scissors after they were born alive.

In a case where the grisly details only compounded the emotional debate over abortion, Kermit Gosnell also was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 sedation-overdose death of a 41-year-old woman during an abortion procedure. Dr. Gosnell was found not guilty on a third-degree-murder charge in the woman’s death, and he was acquitted of first-degree murder of a fourth baby.

Dr. Gosnell, 72 years old, faces a possible death sentence when the jury reconvenes next week to consider sentencing.

Foes and supporters of abortion rights have seized on Dr. Gosnell’s case. Antiabortion activists said charges that the doctor and members of his staff severed babies’ spinal cords showed the violence inherent in terminating pregnancies. Such groups have sought to draw attention to abortions later in pregnancy, an issue they believe could sway Americans who generally support abortion rights but also believe there are at least some instances in which abortion should be illegal.

“The few inches that separate a child in the womb from a child outside the womb should never determine whether its intentional ‘demise’ is permitted by law or whether a ‘right’ to kill it no longer exists,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that focuses on electing antiabortion women lawmakers.

Some supporters of abortion rights have blamed curbs on abortion funding and abortions later in pregnancy for driving vulnerable women to Dr. Gosnell, whose small West Philadelphia clinic was shut down in 2010.

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