Guilty verdicts could result in a death sentence for the defendant, who is also accused of third-degree murder of a 41-year-old woman who died from an overdose of drugs administered during a termination.
Edward Cameron, the lead prosecutor, told jurors in closing arguments that Dr Gosnell was running an "assembly line" for abortions for poor, mostly minority women. "Are you human?" he asked Gosnell, "to med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?"
His defence contended that the movements or sounds seen in the four babies were normal post-mortem spasms, not those of a living being, and accused the prosecution of "the most extraordinary hype and exaggeration in the history of the justice system".
While the overturning of Roe vs Wade, the 1972 Supreme Court ruling that established a woman's right to choose, is the final goal, the pro-life lobby is already making headway in individual states with right-leaning legislatures and governors.
Whatever the verdicts, the trial has put the pro-choice forces on the defensive.
While they have condemned Gosnell, they make an opposing argument that his is precisely the kind of dark-alley clinic that women would have to turn to if abortion was to be more tightly regulated or even prohibited again in America.Independent