Gosnell Witness: I assisted in abortions while in high school
By Joseph A. Slobodzian, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: April 11, 2013
Like a lot of high school sophomores, 15-year-old Ashley Baldwin found a job.
Baldwin, however, wasn't working retail or fast-food. She was doing ultrasounds, administering intravenous medicine and, ultimately, assisting in abortions performed by West Philadelphia doctor Kermit Gosnell.
Baldwin, now 22, and the mother of a two-year-old, today told a Philadelphia jury hearing Gosnell's murder trial of her unusual hands-on medical apprenticeship.
She also told of seeing at least five aborted babies moving, breathing and, in one case, "screeching," after procedures at Gosnells' Women's Medical Society clinic at 3801 Lancaster Ave.
"They looked just like regular babies," Baldwin said to Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore.
Baldwin said one baby she saw was so big that Gosnell joked that "this baby is going to walk me home."
Baldwin was hired by Gosnell in September 2006. She had an in: her mother, Tina Baldwin, had worked there since 2001.
Ashley Baldwin has not been charged with any crime. Tina Baldwin, 47, has pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy and corrupting a minor - her daughter - and will testify later today.
Gosnell, 72, is also charged with corrupting a minor involving Ashley Baldwin.
Like other Gosnell workers, Baldwin testified that Gosnell taught her the rudiments of using an ultrasound, administering IV medicine and some lab work. She said she was working legally because, as a doctor, he had "grandfathered her in."
Starting answering phones, Baldwin quickly moved up in the organization. By the time authorities raided the clinic in February 2010, Baldwin was going to school and working as much as 50 hours a week in the clinic, sometimes into the early morning.
Baldwin said she assisted Gosnell in abortions, applying pressure to the mother's abdomen, handing the doctor instruments and equipment.
She said she also saw Gosnell use scissors to "snip" the neck of newborns who were moving after the procedure.