How and Why Lauren Handy Obtained Abortion Victims’ Remains

Last week, news reports swirled about five fetal bodies that were “found” during a “raid” on Lauren Handy’s apartment. Those aspects of the reporting may not have been accurate. In a press conference yesterday, Handy gave her side of the story. She states that she made advance arrangements through her attorney for homicide detectives to retrieve the remains. Correspondence to the medical examiner supports her claim.

The bigger revelation, though, is that there were far more than five babies involved.

Terrisa Bukovinac — a pro-life atheist who serves on the Secular Pro-Life board — was with Handy on the day that they recovered the bodies. Bukovinac states that she and Handy were sidewalk counseling outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic abortion facility on March 25, when they encountered a medical waste disposal truck. They spoke with the driver, who voluntarily surrendered a box.

The box contained the bodies of 115 abortion victims. Of those, 110 received a prompt and respectful burial. Five, however, were separately packaged and clearly much older. These are the five whose photographs you may have seen (warning: not for those with a weak stomach). One baby boy appears nearly full-term. A baby girl had injuries consistent with the illegal partial-birth abortion procedure. Another baby was still in the amniotic sac.

Washington Surgi-Clinic’s abortionist, Cesare Santangelo, is on record as not using feticidal chemicals in late-term abortions. Given that fact, the babies could be victims of partial-birth abortion or post-birth infanticide. For a few days after this grisly discovery, Handy and Bukovinac sought out a private pathologist to confirm the causes of death for the five older children. When they could not locate a willing pathologist, they resorted to contacting D.C. authorities.

Unfortunately, their fears were proven correct: the D.C. government is so cozy with the abortion industry, it is refusing to even conduct autopsies.

Finally, a point of clarification. Handy was arrested shortly before the babies’ bodies were removed from the apartment. The timing led many journalists and observers to believe there was a connection. That was an understandable initial assumption, but they turn out to be unrelated events. Handy’s arrest concerned a rescue from 2020.