Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia
The pro-life community in Philadelphia recently learned that the City of Philadelphia cremated and buried the remains of 47 aborted babies whose remains were found inside the notorious “House of Horrors” abortuary in West Philadelphia owned by convicted murderer, Dr. Kermit Gosnell.
Paprolife is reporting on a small ceremony on June 10 that took place before an unmarked grave at the historic Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Attended by about 60 people from the local pro-life community along with several national pro-life leaders, the group led a press conference followed by a service beside the grave. A temporary marker was placed over the spot where the babies were buried, all of whom were found either in the freezer or in jars of formaldehyde in Gosnell’s clinic.
The marker read: “May God welcome the souls of these children killed by Kermit Gosnell, and the souls of all children killed by abortion into the joy of Heaven.”
Because the gravesite is owned by the city, the marker had to be pulled up at the end of the service.
“These babies were like any other … precious little persons,” said Catherine Foster, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom. “How a person dies doesn’t make anyone less human.”
She went on to say: “Today, we can say that the City of Philadelphia has heard us. They gave these babies a place to be buried.”
Foster was referring to a protracted struggle between the pro-life community and the city of Philadelphia for the remains of the children. The pro-life community wanted to bury them but the city refused to turn over the remains.
It was not until after Gosnell’s 2013 trial, which found the abortionist convicted of first-degree murder of three infants and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, that the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s officer revealed its plan to cremate and bury the remains of the babies.
However, the location of the burial was not known until recently, when Bill Doran, the superintendent of Laurel Hill Cemetery, revealed that the babies were buried about a year ago in a respectful manner which included a prayer service attended by cemetery staff.
The pro-life community is hoping to organize a second and much larger memorial service for the babies in September and hopes to have a permanent marker in place by the time Pope Francis visits the city.
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