EXCLUSIVE — A coalition of 35 anti-abortion organizations is urging Congress to intervene to stop the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office from getting rid of what they say are the bodies of five babies believed to be potential victims of infanticide.
The letter, obtained by the Washington Examiner, comes as the D.C. medical examiner confirmed Monday its plans to destroy the remains on Feb. 9, and was sent after a media report on Monday indicated the Biden Justice Department advised the medical examiner to get rid of the bodies.
“We call on the House of Representatives to immediately intervene to demand these bodies are not discarded before the proper autopsies and investigations have occurred,” the coalition’s letter, addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), stated. “Additionally, we urge Members of Congress to offer their voice to speak out about the five innocent unborn children whose lives were brutally taken just three miles from the House chamber.”
The remains were discovered by members of the group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, which signed the letter, outside the Foggy Bottom Washington Surgi-Clinic roughly two years ago. Despite multiple calls from members of the House and Senate to investigate what activists believe to be evidence of partial-birth abortion or infanticide, both of which are illegal under federal law, district authorities and the Department of Justice have largely avoided addressing the deaths.
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department held a press conference last year in which officials said the remains were from terminations performed “in accordance with D.C. law,” saying their determination “was based on the on-scene investigation conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.” In an initial response to the controversy, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded by accusing the people who found the bodies of “tampering with fetal remains.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, called on Congress to demand the preservation of the evidence in its own investigation, telling the Washington Examiner, “Under absolutely no circumstances should the DC Medical Examiner discard the bodies of the five innocent children whose lives were taken in such a barbaric manner.”
“If the DOJ is not going to fulfill its duty to investigate the potential federal crimes committed against these child victims, then Congress should immediately take up its own investigation and demand the preservation of evidence,” he continued. “When they were alive, these babies deserved to be treated with respect and compassion. Now, after their violent slaughter, justice must be tenaciously pursued with a thorough investigation into the details surrounding their brutal deaths — no cover ups!”
“Tragically, the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office is in possession of the remains of babies who were victims of late-term abortions. The DOJ is now pressuring the Medical Examiner to destroy evidence and dispose of the remains,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has been vocal on the issue, told the Washington Examiner, adding, “the DOJ is focused on destroying evidence and prosecuting pro-life protestors.”
“Destroying evidence is a grave threat to the rule of law, and it is another tragic chapter in the Biden DOJ’s sad history of having two justice systems,” the Texas Republican continued. “The Medical Examiner should reject the DOJ’s lawless order to destroy evidence and instead conduct a proper investigation into whether these late-term abortions violated the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, or, at minimum, allow for an autopsy by an outside group.”
On Monday, a report from the Daily Signal detailed how the Department of Justice reportedly advised the medical examiner to discard the bodies without examination or autopsy to confirm if illegal abortions had taken place.
According to the letter, despite no autopsies being conducted, OB-GYNs reviewed available evidence, including pictures of the babies’ remains, and determined that federal law had likely been violated.
“Despite this, the Department of Justice has allegedly refused to conduct investigations and is now seeking to destroy the evidence of such wrongdoing,” the letter stated.
Russell Dye, spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), who was carbon-copied on the letter, told the Washington Examiner that their investigation will continue.
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“The DC 5 displays how gruesome abortion is and can be,” Jamie Dangers, legislative director for SBA Pro-Life America, whose organization is leading the letter, told the Washington Examiner. “This case demonstrates the lengths to which the Biden Administration will go to promote abortion above all, even ignoring potential violations of federal law and thereby allowing even the most barbaric abortions to take place through all nine months of pregnancy.”
Read the full letter below. Warning, the “pictures” hyperlink contains graphic images.
