Washington, DC, authorities found the frozen remains of five fetuses in the home of anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy at the end of March 2022. Criminal charges have not been filed against Handy, but authorities are working to uncover why she had the remains in the first place.
Forensic specialists also removed the remains from her home.
The remains had been aborted legally, and it's unclear what plans Handy had for them. Authorities made the discovery after receiving a tip that Handy's home had biohazardous material inside it.
Handy was indicted on federal felony conspiracy charges the same day the discovery was made. Handy told local news she believed she would have been raided "sooner or later" and that "people would freak out when they heard" what was in her home.
Ashan M. Benedict, DC Police executive assistant chief of police, spoke to local reporters, noting, "There doesn't appear to be anything criminal about that — except for how they got into that house."
Handy is the director of activism at Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising. This also isn't her first brush with the law. She was accused of trespassing at a DC-area charter school in 2015. She has also previously been arrested for unlawful assembly.
News station WUSA9 reports, "Handy called the [Washington Surgi-Clinic] pretending to be a woman named 'Hazel Jenkins' who needed an abortion and made an appointment for the morning of Oct. 22, 2020. That morning, Handy allegedly approached a clinic employee and said she was Hazel Jenkins there for her appointment. When the employee opened the door, the indictment says, Handy and the other co-defendants forced their way into the clinic. In the process they allegedly knocked the clinic employee over, causing her to injure her ankle."
Handy and nine others have been charged with conspiracy against rights and clinic access obstruction. They face the possibility of 10 years in prison if convicted.
