WHITE HOUSE: The Kermit Gosnell Abortion Trial Is 'Unsettling,' But Obama Won't Take A Position

White House press secretary Jay Carney said that some of the details emerging from the trial of former Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell are "unsettling." But Carney said that President Barack Obama will not take a position on the trial while it is ongoing.

"The President does not and cannot take a position on an ongoing trial, so I won't as well," Carney said, responding to a question from Fox News' Ed Henry.

"Certainly, the things that you hear and read about this case are unsettling," Carney said, adding that Obama is "aware" of the proceedings.

Entering its fifth week Monday, the Gosnell trial earned major attention at the end of last week amid criticism that the mainstream press was ignoring the news. Gosnell is charged with killing a female patient and seven babies while performing late-term abortions. Some of the details are gruesome, from Gosnell allegedly "snipping" the spinal cords of babies to keeping jars of their feet.

Last year, Obama offered a statement on the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, noting that he was wary of "impairing" the ongoing legal process. The trial of George Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder, had not yet begun when Obama offered his take on how the proceedings had affected him personally.

"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama memorably said.