D.C. police find 5 fetuses in home of anti-abortion activist charged with federal crimes

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) on Wednesday found five fetuses inside the home of Lauren Handy, an anti-abortion activist who was indicted the same day on federal charges for allegedly blockading access to an abortion clinic in 2020.

The MPD confirmed to The Hill that they discovered the fetuses at the 400 block of 6th Street SE, but declined to say whether they were found at Handy’s home.

But WUSA9, a CBS affiliate in D.C., reported that the discovery was made at Handy’s home. The outlet said they spoke to Handy outside her house.

Handy told reporters the police raid was going to happen “sooner or later” and that “people would freak out when they heard” but otherwise declined to comment.

Ashan Benedict, the executive assistant chief of police at the MPD, said at a news conference that the fetuses were aborted in accordance with D.C. law, but they were investigating how they got into the home.

“This is very early on,” he said. “At this point, we’re about a day into this.”

The MPD told The Hill that officers arrived at the home around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday after police were tipped off about potential biohazard material at the location.

The five fetuses were collected and handed over to the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. 

Handy was one of nine defendants indicted by the Justice Department on Wednesday for federal civil rights offenses.

Handy, who faces up to 11 years in prison and a $350,000 fine, called the Washington Surgi-Clinic in 2020 and falsely represented herself as “Hazel Jenkins,” before she requested an appointment with the reproductive health clinic.

When Handy and other defendants arrived at the clinic on Oct. 22, 2020, they pushed through the doors when it opened for the day, injuring a nurse, and blockaded a door to a treatment area with chairs, chains and rope.

Handy “directed conspirators on what to do,” the Justice Department said in the indictment document.