A group of pro-life activists – most of them identifying as “leftist” or “progressive” – held a press conference Tuesday to demand the Washington, D.C., police conduct a full investigation into the deaths of the five late-term infants whose bodies were discovered last week at the home of Lauren Handy, one of their members.
The Star News Network reported earlier Tuesday about the condition of the deceased infants.
Pro-Life Leaders Demand Investigation Into Whether Late-Term Infant Bodies Discovered May Have Survived Botched Abortions: ‘Beyond Horrific and Devastating’ https://t.co/fd4pN6Xj6Yhttps://t.co/fd4pN6Xj6Y
— The Star News Network (@TheStarNewsNet) April 5, 2022
Terrisa Bukovinac, founder and executive director of the group called Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), introduced herself as an “atheist” and a “leftist.”
Bukovinac began detailing the recent events concerning the discovery of the deceased infants.
As Live Action founder and president Lila Rose observed, the infants’ bodies were “recovered from Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services outside Cesare Santangelo’s abortion clinic in D.C. on March 25 when a driver gave the activists a box of aborted children set to be burned as medical waste.”
@PAAUNOW confirms in a press conference that the bodies of the 5 infants were recovered from Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services outside Cesare Santangelo’s abortion clinic in DC on Mar 25 when a driver gave the activists a box of aborted children set to be burned as medical waste pic.twitter.com/q4UiSLqv2F
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) April 5, 2022
Bukovinac said she and PAAU’s director of activism, Lauren Handy, went to Santangelo’s abortion clinic on March 25 “to engage in anti-abortion advocacy”:
Upon arrival we saw a truck labeled Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services parked outside. We approached the driver who was about to load two large boxes with biohazard symbols onto his truck. We asked him if he knew what was in the boxes and, after he said no, we told him: dead babies. The driver was visibly shaken.
Bukovinac said, once the driver confirmed the boxes were from Washington Surgi-Clinic, Santangelo’s facility, she asked him if he would “get in trouble if we took” one of the boxes.
“And he asked, ‘What would you do with them if you took one?’” Bukovinac said. “Lauren said we will give them a proper burial and a funeral.’
“The driver thought for a second and said, ‘Okay,’ and gestured towards the box,” she continued. “Lauren immediately grabbed the box off of the dolly and we brought it back to her apartment.”
“In the presence of a Catholic deacon, Lauren cut open the box and the red plastic bag inside,” Bukovinac continued:
We then proceeded to unpack the remains of 110 mostly first-trimester aborted children. At the bottom of the box was a clear plastic bag with five more containers. One much bigger than the remaining four. Lauren reached into the largest bucket and removed the remains of a beautiful, intact and nearly full-term baby boy we named Christopher X. I think I can speak for both Lauren and I when I say this was the most devastating and soul-crushing experience of our lives. Not even years of anti-abortion advocacy could have prepared us for that moment.
Bukovinac said they discovered four more babies “with a range of injuries, including a fully intact girl we named Harriet, who had one eye open and an incision in the back of her neck, her brain suctioned out and her skull crushed.”
The pro-life activist said one baby was whole and still inside the amniotic sac.
“A feticide is generally used during abortion procedures after 20 weeks’ gestation, to cause an unborn baby a heart attack, which helps prevent a live birth and the excruciating pain of total dismemberment,” she explained. “But in 2013, Live Action captured undercover footage of abortionist Cesare Santangelo … admitting that he does not use feticide.”
“Because of this admission, and the advanced gestational ages of these babies and their intact condition, the likelihood that some were born alive is undeniable,” Bukovinac asserted. “Additionally, the injuries sustained by Harriet strongly imply she was the victim of a partial birth abortion.”
After consulting a private pathologist about the nature of the abortions, Bukovinac said a funeral Mass was held at Handy’s apartment, where all 115 babies were given names. Soon after, the 110 smaller children were taken to an undisclosed location for burial.
“On March 29, Lauren and I coordinated with attorneys to alert the D.C. Homicide Unit of the location of the five larger babies and request an investigation into their deaths,” she said. “Arrangements were made for the babies to be picked up that evening. But police didn’t arrive until the afternoon of the 30th, just hours after Lauren was taken into custody by the FBI in connection with a rescue two years prior.”
“We are demanding that the D.C. police conduct a full investigation into the deaths of these babies, including thorough autopsies,” Bukovinac stated. “We demand that the U.S. Department of Justice prosecute Santangelo for violations of the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act and the Partial Birth Abortion act. And we’re demanding it now.”
“And in an effort to keep our promise to the Curtis Bay whistleblower, we demand a proper burial for the remaining five children post-autopsy,” she added. “Pro-life Americans will not stay silent in the face of such aggressive and barbaric violence, and we will diligently work until the American abortion industrial complex is fully disarmed and dismantled.”
Curtis Bay’s website says it incinerates biomedical waste to turn into “useful energy”
The activists alerted @LiveAction, which documented the remains. They also alerted law enforcement, who, as requested, picked up the remains from the activist’s home. pic.twitter.com/ko58wHmUOY
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) April 5, 2022
“THIS is abortion,” the pro-life Radiance Foundation tweeted in response to the story. “No pink banners. No euphemisms. Five aborted babies discovered in DC show the vile inhumanity of abortion.”
“We don’t care HOW they were killed but THAT they were killed,” organization continued. “Where’s the national outrage? Where’s the Church?”
THIS is abortion. No pink banners. No euphemisms. Five aborted babies discovered in DC show the vile inhumanity of abortion. We don't care HOW they were killed but THAT they were killed. Where's the national outrage? Where's the Church? #JusticeForTheFive https://t.co/KPfQLCHbIG
— Radiance Foundation (@lifehaspurpose) April 5, 2022
Handy described herself as “a devout Catholic who supports economic left policies and creating a culture of life.”
“The abortion industry, which is the overlapping interests of state and business, uses fear, isolation, and violence to make profit off of people who are pregnant, families, and in particular low income women facing crisis and unwanted pregnancies,” she said. “Uplifting and showing the five children does not pit us against their parents. I am deeply heartbroken for these families. Their exploitation from Washington Surgi-Clinic, and then their children being used for profit by Curtis Bay, shows how deeply flawed our communities are structured.
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
