A group of pro-life activists have discovered human fetal remains in a freezer at the University of Washington, leading to calls for institutions involved in such research on babies to face accountability.
On March 9, leaders of pro-life groups, including the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, Pro-Life San Francisco and Rehumanize International obtained access to what the organizations described as “the largest and most active fetal organ bank in the nation located at the University of Washington in Seattle” in a statement. The groups obtained a photograph of a walk-in freezer at the university’s Birth Defects Research Laboratory that contains aborted babies’ body parts.
Said Terrisa Bukovinac, founder and executive director of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising: “It is my hope that this photograph reminds us all that there are real victims being lethally oppressed by UW and traded like property. Fetal trafficking is abhorrent and it must end.”
“They know that they are engaged in practices that are likely leading to a failure to uphold the Born Alive Infant Protection Act and that they are not in compliance with federal law as it relates to their records,” said Bukovinac in an interview with The Christian Post. The activist added that she was one of four pro-life leaders to address the Board of Regents at UW, where they demanded transparency and that the university “comply with federal law.”
“We would like to see full transparency from the university to find out exactly what they’re engaged in, force them to comply with the law and then ultimately to be held accountable for their crimes.
“The Regents, during these public comment sessions, do not comment or react to the statements being made,” she added.
While the members of the UW Board of Regents did not react verbally as the pro-life activists confronted them during a public comment session, Bukovinac said “they did seem surprised and several of them seemed interested, concerned, just based on their demeanor and the looks on their faces….”
Documents made available as a result of public records requests from the group Indiana Right to Life gave Bukovinac and the other pro-life leaders all the information they needed to find the freezer full of fetal tissue, organs and other body parts.
One document, a 2013 invoice for fetal brains addressed to the University of Indiana, listed the location of the UW Birth Defects Research Laboratory as 1959 NE Pacific Street, Health Sciences Bldg., Room RR 346, Seattle, WA 98195-6320.
Bukovinac said she and other pro-life activists were able to easily access the freezer and did not encounter security in the building: “It didn’t take too long to locate the freezer. We saw it. At first, we were trying to look inside and shine a light because there was a small window to look through, but we soon realized that there was a light switch on the outside and when we flipped it on, we could see everything that you see in the photograph….”
The above comes from a March 30 story on the Christian Post.
What about the five fetuses found in the home of a Washington, D.C. pro-life activist?
Vandalism. We get legitimately upset when our churches get vandalized. Why aren’t we upset when research labs get vandalized?
What vandalism? I must be missing something…all they did was take a photograph of the freezer after flipping a switch outside the freezer to turn on the light. No where does it say that they defaced or otherwise vandalized the research lab…
To J and Kathryn: Fair point but I would assume that in order to gain entry they would have had to break a lock or something. It certainly is trespassing and therefore IS a crime. But there are other questions. I’m not sure possession of a fetus is a crime, or even immoral. Doesn’t it depend on how the fetus was obtained?
Is Father Kuchinsky a criminal too?
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251015/priest-funeral-mass-burial-dc-aborted-babies
I missed the part about vandalism.
Not mentioned anywhere in the article that I can see, and I checked the source website.
For once I have to agree with “five fetuses” and “Crime is crime”. I would like to add that the photo above is branded as bodies of fetuses, but I could not readily identify what’s in the photo – we have only the word of the people who say that it’s fetuses to believe there are indeed fetuses. Next: the site authors and the pro-lifers named in the article are at face value VERY pro-life, meaning it is okay to do whatever is needed to fulfill its final mission – elimination of abortion, be it through legal or other means to do so. That said, look at some of verbiage is telling, and probably meant to create a emotive response or lead the reader (especially if they have the same worldview) to a given conclusion. The pro-lifers (aka the team) “discovered”, meaning finding something that was likely hidden or at least not in plain sight. They refer to the site as a “bank”, implying there are shady business deals, etc. Are we sure it’s not more a depository rather than how they describe? The labs were found after a RFI – no mention of any court dealings to try to defer or keep the team away. That too is telling. “They know that they are engaged in practices that are likely leading to a failure to uphold the Born Alive Infant Protection Act and that they are not in compliance with federal law as it relates to their records,” said Bukovinac. A nice assumption, but presented as if definitive evidence – but where is the evidence that the UW Board knew or knows they’re engaged in practices as stated? So the team had no trouble reaching or entering the lab freezer – so it’s just a guess, but wouldn’t one think that an uber-secret place would have better security, like at least locked doors at least? So all of this causes me to wonder if the photo is really as advertised, and that perhaps, just perhaps there are legitimate reasons (like research in birth defects, or finding a cure for a disease, you know, like ones that save lives out of the regrettable loss of a future child’s tissues, which to my mind IS a legitimate ends to a means if it saves one newborn. As for the fetuses, I’m wondering if there wasn’t some waiver or time-limited exception that allowed the lab’s research (which most universities’ obtain before they open themselves up to future litigation or bad publicity from legitimate investigation (subject to peer review or oversight) or human-made allegation with their worldview as the lens). Perhaps such a license to conduct research probably has a clause on how to legally and ethically dispose of the fetal tissue. Tough call, and perhaps some more of BOTH sides need to be a little less quick with allegations without first providing evidence that can withstand scrutiny.
That could be the walk-in freezer at the Tack Bell around the corner.