WASHINGTON — Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) are calling on the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate whether D.C. abortions that were recently performed on preterm babies violated the law.
“We are gravely concerned by allegations brought forward that suggest a preborn baby underwent a partial birth abortion at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.,” the Republicans wrote in a letter, exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, sent Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“We demand that you conduct a comprehensive investigation on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of each preborn baby,” they added.
The letter cites the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, noting that Congress declared that “the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion – an abortion in which a physician deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living, unborn child’s body until either the entire baby’s head is outside the body of the mother, or any part of the baby’s trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother and only the head remains inside the womb, for the purpose of performing an overt act (usually the puncturing of the back of the child’s skull and removing the baby’s brains) that the person knows will kill the partially delivered infant, performs this act, and then completes delivery of the dead infant – is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited.”
Through the work of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising and Live Action, photos have been shared publicly suggesting that some of the babies “may have been victims of partial-birth abortion or infanticide,” the letter said.
The letter includes photographs of the babies, documented by Live Action. Pro-life medical professionals and experts who examined the photographs estimated that they were in the end of the 2nd trimester or in the 3rd trimester when they were aborted. (Warning: Posts contain graphic and disturbing images.)
“In one picture, a preborn baby girl is believed to be a victim of partial-birth abortion,” the Republicans said. “Dr. Kendra Kolb, a neonatologist, estimates that this baby girl is ‘somewhere between 28-30 weeks gestational age, with evidence of deep lacerations to the posterior neck which presumably correlates to the method of abortion used to end her life.'”
D.C. police have not only said that the babies were aborted legally but also indicated that the potentially criminal part of the incident is how the aborted baby bodies were obtained. The nation’s capital does not have any specific law that bans abortion at any point, effectively allowing abortions through nine months of pregnancy.
Lee and Smith questioned the Metropolitan Police Department’s official statement that the babies died as a result of legal abortions, noting that no autopsies have been performed.
“We question whether such a conclusion can be reasonably reached regarding the cause of death for each preborn baby until an official autopsy is performed,” they said.
“We formally request that you direct the appropriate personnel at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate whether these preborn babies were aborted in violation of federal law, specifically the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003,” Smith and Lee said. “We also request the Department of Justice ensure the preservation of each of these bodies as evidence for future investigations.”
Earlier this week, Republican lawmakers also called on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Justice to investigate the abortions of the five babies and “to preserve all of the children’s remains as evidence and conduct autopsies.”
The waste facility has denied that they burn fetal remains or that a box covered in its labelling was taken by pro-life activists (despite photo and videos obtained by The Daily Wire shown to Curtis Bay Medical Waste Facility).
The D.C. Medical Examiner referred The Daily Wire to Bowser’s office for any inquiries.
Bowser, who said she tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, has not responded to many requests for comment from The Daily Wire. The mayor said that her symptoms are mild and cold-like.
The Daily Wire went to Washington Surgi Clinic on Thursday, where clinic workers denied that Dr. Cesare Santangelo was in the building (though the waiting room was full of patients and The Daily Wire spoke with a woman undergoing an abortion) and refused to answer any questions.