The activist, a 28-year-old woman named Lauren Handy, is the leader of the Progressive Anti-Abtion uprising (PAAU) and has described herself as a “Catholic anarchist” in the past. Local television station WUSA9 reported the remains were transported in red biohazard bags on Wednesday. Handy’s only comment at the time was: “People will be scared when they hear it.” Although authorities have not disclosed the source of the fetal remains, Handy recently claimed to have access to an organ bank at the University of Washington in Seattle. Separately, he was charged Wednesday with forced admission to an abortion clinic in Washington in October 2020. “On March 9, I and [sic] “Fellow activists gained access to laboratories and fetal organ freezers at the University of Washington,” Handy said on Twitter on March 23. He also retweeted photos posted by PAAU showing the contents of a freezer. The university said it planned to issue a statement, but would not confirm if the photos were genuine. He also said that the university authorities were investigating whether something was missing from the laboratory. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors charged Khandy with shutting down an abortion clinic in Washington, where he allegedly claimed he was too ill to enter. She and eight of her co-accused could face up to 11 years in prison and fines of up to $ 350,000 if convicted. The news comes as conservative states across the country rush to restrict women’s access to abortion, pending an impending Supreme Court ruling that is expected to drastically limit women’s right to terminate a pregnancy. In contrast, some Democratic-led states have worked to secure the right to abortion in state law. Current federal law requires states to allow abortion until a fetus can survive outside the womb, which is generally considered a 24-week pregnancy, due to a landmark ruling in the 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court.
