PHILADELPHIA, PA (Catholic Online) - The testimony reads like as script from a horror movie, but the tragedy is that it was all very real. Doctor Kermit Gosnell, 72, and his team of untrained assistants are accused of operating a monstrosity of an abortion mill that engaged in the most brutal forms of abortion for profit.

Defense attorneys claim the prosecution is simply engaging in "lynching" referring to the fact that the defendant is black. There is no substantial defense for the crimes.

However, Gosnell murdered many children, regardless of race. If guilty, then his crimes represent a horrific monstrosity.

According to testimony provided by Adrienne Moton, a former assistant who is herself now serving a long prison sentence for her role in the killings of babies at Gosnell's clinic, many of the standard practices were quite brutal.

Moton explained how babies were often removed from the womb, well after they were viable, and murdered, often with the severing of their spine. Gosnell even made jokes about the children he allegedly murdered, remarking about one child that he was big enough to walk to the bus stop himself.

The abortion mill was decked out with obsolete equipment and outdated, barbaric practices were used on the women, who were often from low income and immigrant backgrounds. His operation was exposed after an immigrant woman and her child died after a procedure in his clinic.

Moton explained that's he and other staff worked at the clinic and said little because they were poorly trained, or even untrained, but needed the money. She testified Gosnell paid them between $10 and $20 per abortion, with more pay for helping with later term abortions.

The workers were compelled to perform sonograms, assist with abortions, and even compelled to dispose of the bodies of the children they murdered.

Moton said she even once was told to murder a baby over a toilet, and did so by cutting its neck with a pair of scissors.

She is serving an astoundingly short 20 to 40 year sentence for her role in the murders.

In addition to performing systematic murders of children in his abortion mill, prosecutors also charge Gosnell wrote prescriptions for addictive medications in exchange for cash - a literal form of drug dealing. Investigators found $250,000 is cash tied to his drug activities.

If convicted, Gosnell could spend the rest of his few remaining years in prison.

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