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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT), along with 23 senators and 46 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate the deaths of preborn babies whose remains were found in a Washington D.C. home. Widely circulated images of the remains suggest some of the babies may have undergone unlawful partial-birth abortions or infanticide at the Washington Surgi-Clinic. Yet, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has made the assumption that each preborn baby died as the result of a legal abortion, and the D.C. Medical Examiner does not intend to further investigate if these procedures were completed illegally.
 
“We are gravely concerned by allegations brought forward that suggest a preborn baby underwent a partial birth abortion at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.,” the lawmakers wrote. “We demand that you conduct a comprehensive investigation on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of each preborn baby.
 
“Alongside passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, Congress declared that ‘a moral, medical, and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion … is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited,” the lawmakers added.
 
“We formally request that you direct the appropriate personnel at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate whether these preborn babies were aborted in violation of federal law,” the lawmakers continued.
 
The full text of the letter is below.
 
Attorney General Merrick Garland, 
 
We are gravely concerned by allegations brought forward that suggest a preborn baby underwent a partial-birth abortion at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C. We demand that you conduct a comprehensive investigation on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of each preborn baby.  
 
Alongside passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, Congress declared that “a moral, medical, and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion – an abortion in which a physician deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living, unborn child’s body until either the entire baby’s head is outside the body of the mother, or any part of the baby’s trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother and only the head remains inside the womb, for the purpose of performing an overt act (usually the puncturing of the back of the child’s skull and removing the baby’s brains) that the person knows will kill the partially delivered infant, performs this act, and then completes delivery of the dead infant – is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited.”
 
Photos that have been publicly shared (and are enclosed in this letter) suggest that some of these babies may have been victims of partial-birth abortion or infanticide. In one picture, a preborn baby girl is believed to be a victim of partial-birth abortion. Dr. Kendra Kolb, a neonatologist, estimates that this baby girl is “somewhere between 28-30 weeks gestational age, with evidence of deep lacerations to the posterior neck which presumably correlates to the method of abortion used to end her life.”
 
Official statements made by the Metropolitan Police of DC have made the assumption that each preborn baby died as the result of a legal abortion. However, we question whether such a conclusion can be reasonably reached regarding the cause of death for each preborn baby until an official autopsy is performed. We formally request that you direct the appropriate personnel at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate whether these preborn babies were aborted in violation of federal law, specifically the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. We also request the Department of Justice ensure the preservation of each of these bodies as evidence for future investigations.  
 
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States, correctly noted that, “Justice is indiscriminately due to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank.” In that same sentiment, the undersigned recognize that justice is indiscriminately due to the born and preborn, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank. There is no compensatory reparation that may be provided to those injured by the abhorrent act of partial-birth abortion. As such, justice demands that at the very least, an investigation be conducted to ensure that anyone conducting these illegal, abhorrent acts against the most innocent among us may be prosecuted.  
 
We expect that you will provide written confirmation to the undersigned that you and the appropriate personnel of the Department of Justice and the FBI will either fulfill, or not fulfill, these requests by no later than Monday, April 11. 
 
Sincerely,