Abortionist Cesare Santangelo, who operates the Washington Surgi-Clinic, was spotted by pro-life activists entering the facility this week with a full cast on his right arm and unable to walk on his own.
Key Takeaways:
- Terrisa Bukovinac, founder of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) and co-discoverer of the “DC Five,” saw Santangelo outside of his facility, seemingly injured or temporarily disabled.
- Bukovinac questioned whether Santangelo was capable of committing abortions with a cast, or if doing so would put women’s lives at further risk.
- The group recorded the interaction and posted it to social media.
The Details:
In a press release from PAAU, Santangelo’s condition was revealed, accompanying a video posted on the group’s Instagram page. Santangelo, walking with a noticeable limp, swats at the camera with a cane at one point in the video.
“He’s in a full cast!” Bukovinac said in the video. “You expect us to believe that he’s performing safe and legal abortions during all trimesters?”
As she spoke, she also urged Congress to investigate Santangelo, and questioned his ability to practice the late-term abortion procedures for which he is known. “Look at the way he is barely able to walk on his own,” she said. “He is in a full-arm cast. How is he performing abortions? Who in his office is actually performing abortions?”
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In the Instagram caption, PAAU also questioned whether unlicensed staff might be committing abortions in Santangelo’s place.
The Backstory:
Warning: Images of abortion victims below.
Along with Lauren Handy, Bukovinac was present outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic in 2022, where they received a box marked as a biohazard from a medical waste driver.
“After he confirmed the boxes were from Washington [Surgi-Center], I asked him, ‘Would you get in trouble if we took one of these boxes?’” Bukovinac explained. “And he asked, ‘What would you do with them if you took one?’ Lauren said we would give them a proper burial and a funeral.”
Inside was a red bag containing the bodies of 110 aborted babies. Most were victims of first-trimester abortions, but five of them had clearly been aborted at significantly later gestational ages, with some appearing to be nearly full-term. One of the babies, later named “Harriet,” was believed by experts to have potentially been killed by an illegal D&X (‘partial-birth) abortion.
Santangelo was previously the subject of a Live Action undercover investigation, in which he was recorded saying that he cuts the umbilical cord and waits for the child to die by cardiac arrest during an abortion, rather than injecting the child with a feticide. He also said he and his staff would not give aid to a child who survives an abortion procedure.
Handy and Bukovinac contacted the homicide unit of the Metropolitan Police in D.C., asking for the police to pick up the bodies and arrange for forensic examination; instead, police came to arrest Handy and eight other pro-life activists, charging them with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
The same day, police held a press conference claiming that no crime had taken place at Santangelo’s facility, despite the lack of an investigation or autopsy.
The Bottom Line:
Though years have passed, Santangelo has not been investigated for the deaths of The Five, and his current physical condition likewise raises doubts about his ability to commit abortions without injuring women.
“We again call on Congress to investigate the crimes against the DC Five, the profound ongoing governmental negligence that fails to bring him to account,” Bukovinac said in a PAAU press release. “I am exposing Santangelo’s lies and never giving up on getting Justice for the Five.”
