Five fetuses were found in the Washington D.C. home of an anti-abortion activist, the DC Metropolitan police department said.
According to the Associated Press, the remains were found in the home of Lauren Handy, 28, an activist, self-proclaimed “Catholic anarchist” and the director of activism for the group Progressive Anti-Abortion uprising (PAAU).
The Metropolitan Police Department says officers were responding to a tip about “potential bio-hazard material” at the home when they found the fetuses inside.
The medical examiner’s office collected the fetuses, and police are investigating, the department said. No further information was available about the fetuses, including where they came from.
Local television station WUSA9 was on the scene as officers searched the home. Handy’s only comment at the time was that “people will freak out when they hear” what detectives found inside her house.
Handy was one of nine people charged in an indictment that was made public on Wednesday that accused the group of blocking access to a reproductive health center and streaming it on Facebook, according to The AP.
Prosecutors said Handy called the clinic pretending to be a prospective patient and scheduled an appointment to gain entry. On Oct. 22, 2020, eight of the suspects pushed their way inside and began blocking the doors, according to the indictment. Five of them chained themselves together on chairs to block the treatment area as others blocked the employee entrance to stop other patients from coming inside, the indictment alleges.
Another suspect blocked people from coming into the waiting room, prosecutors say.
Handy and the eight co-defendants were charged with conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, known as the FACE Act. If convicted they each face up to a maximum 11 years in prison.