After three years of justice delayed and denied, President Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed last week that it has opened an investigation into the alleged murder of five extremely late term and already born babies: Harriet, Christopher X (a “beautiful, intact baby boy”), Phoenix, Angel, and Holly.
On March 25, 2022, Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) activists obtained a box from a medical waste delivery driver behind the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a known late-term abortion clinic just two miles from the White House. The group found the bodies of over 115 aborted babies in the box. Had the activists not obtained the box, those bodies would have been incinerated to produce renewable electricity for businesses and homes in Baltimore.
The activists preserved the human remains, named each baby, and contacted local priests to perform proper funerals and burials for 110 first-trimester children. Independent pathology reports alleged that the remaining five babies had been killed illegally; at least three of the last five were alleged to be born alive and left to die. PAAU hired a lawyer and called in the authorities to arrange and coordinate an investigation. Instead, ten members of the group were arrested and charged with FACE Act violations from 2020, and the five late-term bodies were seized.
Since the seizure of their bodies, Harriet, Christopher X, Phoenix, Angel, and Holly have spent over three years in D.C. Police Department evidence storage despite demands for justice from the pro-life community. The Biden Administration Department of Justice not only refused to investigate the deaths but ordered the DCPD Medical Examiner to destroy the evidence in 2024.
Immediately, Concerned Women for America (CWA) joined a coalition of 34 pro-life organizations demanding that Congress take action to prevent the destruction of evidence without a full and impartial investigation. Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey 4th), Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, agreed, 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.
Thankfully, the bodies were not disposed of, and President Biden’s order expired with the change of Presidential administrations. In May 2025, CWA once again joined nine leading pro-life organizations in demanding the Department of Justice investigate the deaths of The D.C. Five, writing: “We, as leaders of the Pro-Life Movement, respectfully ask that you conduct a proper investigation into the suspected violations of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act in connection with The D.C. Five.” Republican lawmakers Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas 2nd) and Andy Biggs (R-Arizona 5th) followed suit in April, asking the FBI to open an investigation. On June 23, 2025, Rep. Riley Moore (R-West Virginia 2nd) questioned Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi on the status of the DOJ’s investigation in a budget hearing. AG Bondi could not divulge details, but she confirmed, for the first time, that the DOJ has opened an official investigation into the deaths of The D.C. Five. This confirmation from AG Bondi is cause for celebration among pro-life Americans who have spent three years praying and demanding justice for The D.C. Five.
As investigations begin, it is important to remember that the alleged abortionist responsible for these illegal abortions—Dr. Cesare Santagelo—is still performing abortions at the clinic where The D.C. Five were discovered. In 2012, Dr. Santangelo admitted to undercover LiveAction investigators that he would not save any baby born alive after a botched abortion in his clinic, and it seems his word may still be true. If a full investigation reveals any violations of federal law, Dr. Santangelo and clinic staff at fault should finally be stripped of their medical licensures and charged with malpractice. The Washington Surgi-Clinic must be shut down, and not one more vulnerable woman or baby (born or preborn) should suffer under Dr. Santangelo’s “care.”
In 2022, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote in Newsweek, “People who violate federal law and take the lives of children should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and government officials should not destroy key evidence to avoid oversight and justice.” The Senator’s words ring true three years later. For Harriet, Christopher X, Phoenix, Angel, Holly, and for every name known only to the Lord, let us pray the ongoing DOJ investigation discovers and exposes the truth about the tragic deaths of these five beautiful babies created in the image of God.
