Gosnell’s clinic, the Women’s Medical Society in Philadelphia, was notoriously nicknamed the “house of horrors” during his trial for the illicit late-term abortions and infanticide committed inside, with some observers estimating Gosnell likely murdered more than 200 infants through born-alive abortions exceedingly late in pregnancy.

The case ignited fierce debate over whether physicians have a duty to preserve infants born alive after failed abortions and at what point in fetal development abortions could be considered infanticide. It also led to scrutiny of major news outlets’ coverage of abortion.

Gosnell’s clinic was raided in February 2010 following an investigation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Pennsylvania authorities, following suspected illicit prescription drug use at the practice. 

Investigators uncovered horrific scenes of not only unsanitary conditions but also dozens of fetal remains stored in freezers and other fetal body parts stored in plastic containers.

Gosnell was eventually arrested in January 2011 following a grand jury investigation, in which he was charged with first-degree murder for killing seven infants born alive during failed abortions by snipping their spinal cords with scissors. 

The jury deliberated for 10 days and found Gosnell guilty of three counts of first-degree murder.

In a separate case, Gosnell pleaded guilty in 2013 to distributing the opioid OxyContin and other controlled substances from his clinic, for which he received an additional 30-year sentence on top of his life sentences. 

Activists on both sides of the abortion debate condemned Gosnell’s clinic for being unsafe, including featuring broken equipment, bloodstained chairs, a pervasive urine smell, and general unhygienic conditions that put patients at risk. 

While anti-abortion activists said the case demonstrated the evils of the abortion industry, abortion-rights advocates at the time said that anti-abortion laws and advocacy would push patients toward illicit care facilities such as Gosnell’s.

Gosnell’s trial became one of the first “Twitter storms” in which conservatives expressed outrage that legacy media outlets were failing to cover the story. Public pressure eventually spurred legacy media such as the New York Times to cover the ordeal.

The news of Gosnell’s death was first reported by investigative journalist Ann McElhinney, who extensively covered his 2013 trial and interviewed Gosnell in prison in 2015. 

McElhinney and her colleague Phelim McAleer described Gosnell in their reporting as “a chilling monster who could sometimes come across as charming” and said he “seemed unfazed by his crimes.” 

A Philadelphia judge named the nonprofit organization reBuilding Blocks the new conservator of Gosnell’s former property in November.