Late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo's medical license has lapsed

Notorious Washington, D.C., abortionist Cesare Santangelo has seemingly has allowed his medical license to lapse.

Key Takeaways:

• Late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo was the subject of an undercover Live Action investigation, in which he stated that he and his staff "would not help" a child who survived an abortion. His facility was also the subject of an undercover investigation which led to ethics complaints for requiring patients to take Xanax (which can cause drowsiness and impair memory) before meeting with the abortionist and giving final consent for an abortion. 

• His facility, Washington Surgi-Clinic, is the facility where over 100 aborted children were found in a medical waste box in 2022, including five who appeared to be nearly full-term.

• In 2025, the license for Santangelo's facility expired and was not renewed.

• Santangelo's medical license expired in June 2026 and has not been renewed.

The Details:

Pro-life watchdog group Operation Rescue reported that, as of July, Santangelo's medical license has expired, though it is still eligible for renewal. That means he cannot currently practice medicine in Washington, D.C., though he remains licensed in the state of Maryland.

Last year, Live Action News confirmed that the Washington Surgi-Clinic's license (Santangelo's D.C. facility) had expired; nearly a year later, it is still not registered with D.C. Health on its list of ambulatory surgical centers.

Shortly before the license for the abortion facility expired, Santangelo was spotted walking into the facility with cast on his arm and needing assistance from others to walk.

Given that Santangelo is still licensed to practice medicine in Maryland, it is not clear if he is retiring or simply leaving D.C. and relocating.

The Backstory:

Lauren Handy and Terrisa Bukovinac, both members of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), were outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic in 2022, where they encountered a medical waste truck driver picking up waste from the facility. After speaking with the driver, he gave them a box marked as a biohazard, which contained the bodies of aborted children.

“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.”

There was a red bag inside, containing the bodies of 110 aborted babies. Most were victims of first-trimester abortions, but five had clearly been aborted at significantly later gestational ages, with some appearing to be nearly full-term. One of the babies, who was given the name “Harriet” by the pro-life activists, was suspected to have been the potential victim of a federally-illegal D&X (partial-birth) abortion.

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 complete lack of an investigation or autopsy.

Years prior to this, Santangelo had been the subject of a Live Action undercover investigation in which he said that during an abortion, he cuts the umbilical cord and waits for the child to die by cardiac arrest as a result of exsanguination rather than injecting the child with a feticide first. He also said he and his staff would not give aid to a child who survives an abortion procedure.

Inhuman: Undercover in America's Late-Term Abortion Industry - Washington, D.C.

In a 2022 Live Action investigation, a 28-weeks-pregnant undercover investigator visited Santangelo's facility acting as if she was seeking to abort her healthy baby. Not only did staff have no issues with such a scenario, but they also refused to even allow the woman to meet with the abortionist to ask questions until the woman had agreed to take Xanax — a drug that can cause drowsiness and impair memory, impacting her ability to give informed consent to the abortion. This led the investigator to file an ethics complaint with the D.C. medical board.

Santangelo has not been investigated for the deaths of The Five, nor for suspicion of committing infanticide. He is also responsible for the death of at least one woman — Rebecca Carey Charland.

The Bottom Line:

Santangelo appears to no longer be committing abortions. Only time will tell if this truly is the end of the Butcher of D.C., or if he is simply planning to set up shop elsewhere.