Pa. abortion doc's capital murder trial starting

(AP) A Philadelphia abortion provider is going on trial in a murder case that could send him to death row.

A trial begins Monday for 72-year-old Dr. Kermit Gosnell, charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing seven late-term babies born alive. He also is charged with third-degree murder in the 2009 overdose death of a female patient.

Gosnell has pleaded not guilty.

Investigators say Gosnell's clinic went years without inspections by state and local health officials.

The 2011 grand jury report on Gosnell prompted state lawmakers to insist that abortion clinics now meet the same standards as walk-in surgical centers.

But state health officials say few if any clinics in Pennsylvania have closed over the new rules.