Pro-life leaders call on DOJ to investigate deaths of five aborted babies

Pro-life organizations are renewing the call for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the deaths of five nearly full-term preborn children who were aborted in Washington, D.C., in 2022. Known as the “D.C. Five,” their bodies were found in a medical waste box by pro-life activists.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• On March 25, 2022, pro-life activists discovered more than 100 aborted babies in a medical waste bin outside of an abortion business in Washington, D.C.

• Experts believe five of the babies were old enough to have potentially survived outside the womb.

• One of the babies appears to have been killed by the federally banned D&X abortion procedure, also known as partial-birth abortion.

• Other babies may have been born alive and either left to die or killed at the abortion business.

• No investigation has been launched into their deaths, and pro-life organizations are calling on the Interim US Attorney to do so.

THE DETAILS:

In a letter to Interim United States Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Tuesday, nine pro-life leaders, including Live Action founder and president Lila Rose, asked Pirro to “conduct a proper investigation into the suspected violations of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act” in relation to the deaths of five babies in March 2022.

“In 2022, pro-life activists in Washington, D.C., discovered possible violations of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. Being vigilant citizens, they alerted the D.C. police. Tragically, rather than investigate the incident properly, the Biden Administration worked to sweep the allegations under the rug and silence the individuals involved by prosecuting them,” said the letter.

“President Biden’s Department of Justice allegedly ordered the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to incinerate the evidence,” it continued. “Thankfully, Members of Congress took shrewd steps to protect the evidence through preservation of evidence requests.”

The pro-life leaders urged Pirro to “follow the facts where they may lead and enforce federal law to protect those most vulnerable in our nation’s capital: the unborn.”

Pirro did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

This is the second time in 2025 that there has been a request for an investigation into this matter. In April, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona called on the FBI to investigate the deaths of the babies. In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, they said that the Biden administration “departed from its core public safety mission, suffered from senior leadership failures, and refused any real transparency or accountability for its actions” in refusing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the remains of the five aborted preborn babies.

THE BACK STORY:

Warning: graphic images

On March 25, 2022, pro-life activists with Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), Lauren Handy and Terrisa Bukovinac, found 110 aborted babies in a medical waste box outside of the Washington Surgi-Clinic abortion facility in Washington, D.C.  Five of the babies were deemed by experts to likely be old enough to have survived outside the womb. One of the babies, whom activists named “Harriet,” had an incision on the back of her neck that could indicate the use of the federally banned D&X abortion procedure, more commonly known as partial-birth abortion. Other intact babies found in the bag could have been killed by infanticide after surviving the abortion procedure.

The activists contacted the police; however, five days later, Handy and eight other pro-life activists were arrested and charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. On April 1, D.C. police held a press conference during which they dismissed the idea that the babies could have been killed illegally, although no investigation or autopsies were carried out.

The operator of Washington Surgi-Center, Cesare Santangelo, had previously been recorded saying he would not provide life-saving care to abortion survivors at his facility. There are no restrictions on abortion in D.C.

Despite calls from federal legislators and pro-life organizations to investigate the deaths of these babies, no investigation was ever carried out. Instead, the Biden administration targeted pro-life activists around the country and attempted to prevent an investigation into the babies’ deaths.

Now, with a new presidential administration in office, pro-life organizations are calling on Pirro to investigate what the Biden administration refused to.

WHY IT MATTERS: 

Abortion proponents across the country support abortion on demand without restrictions. They would like to see more viable babies aborted just as they are in D.C. — for any reason, at any time. By failing to investigate the deaths of the “D.C. Five,” abortion businesses are being put above the law and the humanity and rights of innocent living human children are being ignored.

In addition, failing to investigate helps to keep the story of the “D.C. Five” out of headlines, leaving Americans in the dark about the horrors of abortion.