Police Discover Five Fetuses At The House Of An Anti-Abortion Activist In The United States

Lauren Handy, 28, styles herself as a "Catholic anarchist" and is the head of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU).

When the foetuses were discovered, police claimed they were looking into a "possible bio-hazard material."

Ms Handy was indicted separately on Wednesday for attempting to force her way into an abortion clinic in 2020.

On Wednesday, while detectives retrieved items from the basement in bags and coolers, she was pictured outside the residence.

"People would freak out when they heard" what was inside the crates being seized, she told local news site WUSA9.

The home where the foetuses were discovered was not Ms Handy's, according to Washington police. The house, however, was where Ms Handy was detained and had resided or stayed, according to two law enforcement sources who spoke to the Washington Post.

At a press conference, Ashan Benedict, executive assistant Washington DC police chief, said, "There doesn't seem to be anything criminal about that except for how they got into this house."

Ms Handy recently claimed to have "gained access" to a foetal tissue and organ bank at the University of Washington in Seattle, but the university stated that no organs or tissue were taken.

According to a separate federal indictment released on Thursday, Ms Handy arranged an appointment with the Washington Surgi-Clinic, an abortion provider, on October 22, 2020, under the name Hazel Jenkins, claiming she wanted an abortion.

The indictment claims that when she arrived, a gang "forcefully invaded the clinic," knocking over a clinic employee and injuring her ankle.

Ms Handy and eight other members of the group are accused of conspiring to harm, harass, threaten, and intimidate patients and staff in violation of their federal rights to seek and provide reproductive health services, according to the indictment.

They're also accused of breaking the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) by interfering with the clinic's services with force.