PHILADELPHIA — The City of Philadelphia says that it plans to cremate and bury the remains of the 47 babies that were seized by investigators during a raid on convicted abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” in 2011.

As previously reported, last month, Gosnell was convicted of over 200 criminal counts, including three counts of first-degree murder for killing babies born alive and charges surrounding illegal late-term abortions past 24 weeks. Gosnell waived his right to an appeal to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to three life sentences behind bars.

The abortionist had 30 days to change his mind regarding the appeal, but the date has now passed. City officials outline that now matters seem to have come to a close, they will proceed with their plans to cremate and bury the bodies of babies that were found in Gosnell’s basement, which have been held as evidence for the past two years.

However, Roman Catholics in the city are disappointed as they state that they had specifically petitioned the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for the right to bury the bodies.

“I’m in the dark about what’s going on,” Francis Maier, assistant to Archbishop Charles Chaput, told reporters. “We’ve repeatedly tried to no avail.”

Frank Pavone of Priests for Life advised that a ceremony for the babies will proceed with or without the bodies.

“There is no need for the medical examiner to have some hidden, secret burial as if we are to be ashamed of these babies. These babies are not unclaimed. They are claimed and have been named by us, because they are our brothers and sisters,” he told the publication LifeNews. “We will therefore have a national funeral service for these babies, even without the bodies. We will involve the entire pro-life movement and all people of good will, and more information will be announced shortly. Moreover, we want to know exactly where the remains of these children will be placed.”

However, as previously reported, it is believed that the remains of hundreds of other babies murdered by Gosnell may have been unlawfully dumped in a landfill by the medical waste company Stericycle. The Campaign to Stop Stericycle (CSS) issued a news release last month outlining that while Stericycle’s protocol is to ship body parts collected in Pennsylvania — marked as “pathological waste” — to their incineration plant in North Carolina, the organization had discovered evidence that the boxes were mislabeled and sent to Stericycle’s chemclave plant in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

“Matters turned out to be even worse than we thought as the company failed to follow its internal protocol,” lamented director Michael Marcavage. “It is beyond sickening to think that the bodies of potentially hundreds of children are buried with the trash in a Pennsylvania landfill. Whether burned in an incinerator or dumped in a landfill, Stericycle must be held responsible for its collaboration with Gosnell and its improper handling of human remains.”

CSS has requested an official investigation into the matter, sending letters to officials throughout the Commonwealth.

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