The second week of the federal trial of five pro-life activists continues with the defendants – Lauren Handy, Will Goodman, John Hinshaw, Heather Idoni, and Herb Geraghty – who are charged with both conspiracy to interfere with civil rights and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act violations in connection with a rescue action at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility in October of 2020. The facility in question is run by Dr. Cesare Santangelo.
A Live Action undercover investigation from 2012 showed Dr. Santangelo admitting that any children accidentally born alive during abortions would not receive any medical assistance to survive — neglect that is illegal under federal law. The investigation further confirmed that Dr. Santangelo uses the method of cutting the umbilical cord and waiting for the child to die instead of administering a lethal injection, drastically increasing the chance that a child may be born alive and then killed, which is illegal.
After seeing this Live Action video, Lauren Handy, one of the defendants, dropped out of school to defend preborn babies and take risks to save their lives. Her actions are now on trial, and Handy, along with the other pro-life activists, could face 11 years in federal prison.
When the video in question was referenced by Handy’s legal team, they attempted to put the video into evidence, emphasizing that it was her primary motivation for choosing WSC/Santangelo’s facility. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly claimed without evidence that the video was “heavily edited,” calling it “gossip from propagandists.”
President and Founder of Live Action, Lila Rose, released the following comment:
“We are seeing a horrific abuse of our justice system that five pro-life activists are potentially facing eleven years in prison for peaceful pro-life activism. If members of the Department of Justice actually cared about doing their job, they would investigate and bring Cesare Santangelo to justice for the children he has mutilated and killed. Instead, the Biden DOJ is nothing more than an abortion interest group, albeit one with the power of ruining lives by bringing unjust decade-long prison charges.
It is also scandalous that this judge has refused to admit as evidence into the trial the Live Action video which inspired Lauren Handy’s pro-life activism regarding this specific abortion facility. Live Action reporting holds itself to the highest standards of journalistic integrity and excellence. Live Action reported the facts, straight from the mouth of the notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo, and our organization always releases and posts the full, unedited raw footage of every investigation. When Santangelo told our reporter that he would “not help” a child born alive during a failed abortion attempt, we should take him at his word. We have inspired thousands to take action to defend innocent human lives and end the ongoing tragedy of abortion in America.”
In addition to the atrocities discussed in the video, 115 lifeless children were discovered in April of 2022 in a box of medical waste outside the facility of Santangelo. Although local authorities refused to perform autopsies on the five children that appeared to be old enough to survive outside the womb, Live Action continues to urge law enforcement to investigate and shut down this facility.
The trial is expected to continue for the remainder of the week. Visit Live Action News for updates regarding the trial and verdict.
