Dozens of GOP lawmakers demand DOJ autopsies and investigation of ‘DC Five’
Caroline MolloySen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and more than 50 other Republican lawmakers are demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) complete an investigation into the deaths of five late-term aborted babies whose remains have been held by the D.C. medical examiner since 2022.
In a July 20 letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, the lawmakers requested autopsies, preservation of all evidence, and a determination of whether the children were killed through an illegal partial-birth abortion or by infanticide after being born.
The lawmakers also asked that the children receive “a proper and respectful burial” once the investigation is complete and any responsible parties have been brought to justice.
CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky praised Lee and Smith for renewing pressure on the administration.
“One of the first things President Trump did in his second term was to pardon the pro-life advocates who, under President Biden, discovered late-term abortions and other heinous acts being done in a D.C. abortuary,” McClusky told Zeale News. “I commend Rep. Smith and Sen. Mike Lee for following up to find out why only pro-lifers were charged in the incident, yet the perpetrators of potential murder were never prosecuted.”
The bodies of the five babies, commonly known as the “D.C. Five,” were recovered by the Metropolitan Police Department in March 2022. Pro-life activists Lauren Handy and Terrisa Bukovinac said they had obtained a box containing fetal remains from a medical-waste driver outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a facility operated by notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo.
The activists arranged for the burial of more than 100 smaller aborted babies found inside the box but retained the remains of five larger babies because they believed their condition indicated possible violations of federal law.
D.C. police said at the time that the babies appeared to have been aborted in accordance with local law and that there was no apparent criminal conduct related to their deaths. The medical examiner did not conduct autopsies, however, leaving unresolved questions about the procedures used and whether any of the children were born alive.
