A coalition of members of Congress is asking Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser to investigate, including doing autopsies, the bodies of five babies that were turned over to authorities recently.
The incident, involving the bodies of near-term or at-term infants, has raised questions about the abortion procedures that may or may not have been used, including whether those violated federal partial-birth abortion bans.
Those procedures are when a baby is delivered partway, then the infant is killed and its body dismembered to complete delivery.
The Washington Times says 20 Republicans in Congress are asking Bowers to order the investigation and autopsies.
The report said they sent her, and Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee IIII, a letter contesting the police claim “that each child died as the result of a legal abortion.”
The letter comes from 15 senators and five members of the U.S. House.
Citing graphic images of the babies that pro-life activists obtained and have publicized, the lawmakers suggested the investigation determine whether the infants’ deaths violated the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.
“Based on evidence collected at the time of recovery and photos that have been publicly shared, all five of these children appear to have developed well past the point of viability, and likely suffered severely painful abortion procedures, though without an autopsy, it is not known how each child died,” the lawmakers wrote.
Joining the request for authorities to investigate was the Family Research Council.
That organization reported, “Multiple physicians who evaluated the remains of the five aborted babies recovered from Santangelo’s clinic have speculated that there may be evidence of the abortionist committing illegal partial-birth abortions or even killing babies that were delivered alive.
“Cesare Santangelo, the abortionist at Washington Surgi-Clinic, has a history of ‘bad outcomes related to abortion’ that led to his investigation by the D.C. Board of Health. He has been caught on video admitting that if a baby is born alive during an abortion, he simply lets the baby die,” the FRC said in its announcement.
Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, explained the concern, “The five aborted babies recovered from Santangelo’s business deserve justice. Their deaths – which were undoubtedly excruciatingly painful – cannot be swept under the rug. Cesare Santangelo must be held accountable for his horrific crimes against those who cannot speak for themselves.”
She went on, “This is America – not North Korea. The D.C. medical examiner must perform an autopsy, and there must be an investigation to determine how these babies were killed.”
Szoch said, “Americans have been shaken by the images of the five babies recovered from Washington-Surgi Clinic, but the sad truth is that every abortion takes the life of a beautiful, innocent baby. We must pray for the day when all unborn children will be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
Among the senators signing were Joni Ernst, Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley and members of the House included Jim Jordan and Debbie Lesko.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina Republican, separately grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, an abortion fanatic, during a congressional committee hearing about the “five fetuses beyond the threshold of viability on the doorstep of Washington, D.C.”
But he did not receive an answer.
Police recovered the five fetuses from an apartment in southeast Washington last Thursday.
A spokesman originally told reporters the abortions didn’t appear to break the law, but the department later said an investigation was active.
Members of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising claim that on March 25, a driver for a regional medical waste services firm gave them boxes containing 115 fetuses. They said they buried 110 early-term fetuses in a Catholic funeral mass.
Pro-life organizations including Students for Life of America, the Susan B. Anthony List and Live Action also have all called for an investigation.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
