2 to plead guilty today in abortion-doctor case

THEN THERE were seven.

That's the number of defendants that will remain to be tried in the abortion-doctor horror case after two more defendants plead guilty, which is expected to happen today at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center.

Adrienne Moton, 34, and Sherry West, 52, are scheduled to plead guilty for contributing to deaths that occurred in the filthy, unlicensed West Philadelphia abortion clinic run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 70.

Gosnell could face the death penalty for what prosecutors contend are the murders of seven babies born alive and viable at the clinic only to have their spinal cords cut.

He is also charged with the third-degree murder of Karnamaya Mongar, 41, who died in 2009 after overdosing on anesthetics prescribed by Gosnell, a family practitioner who lacked certification as an OB/GYN.

In January, prosecutors charged 10 defendants in the case following the release of a 281-page grand jury report that depicted Gosnell's Women's Medical Society clinic on Lancaster Avenue as a macabre tomb littered with aborted fetuses in bags and bottles.

Moton, of Upper Darby, was to be tried for murder, conspiracy, racketeering and corruption related to the death of a viable baby born alive at the clinic. She was an unlicensed worker who routinely and illegally administered anesthesia to patients, the District Attorney's Office said at the time of her arrest.

West, of Newark, Del., was to be tried for third-degree murder in Mongar's death and related counts.

Elizabeth Hampton, 53, of Arch Street in West Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to perjury on Oct. 13 and will be sentenced Dec. 2, according to court records. She is Gosnell's sister-in-law.