Police in Washington, D.C., have been refusing to investigate the death of baby Phoenix in 2022. For more than a year, advocates for Phoenix have called on police to determine if he was left to drown as suspected, or died by another cause. Either way, Phoenix’s death was intentional, though justice may never be served.
WARNING: Disturbing photos below.
On March 25, 2022, pro-life activists from the organization Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) received a box of medical waste from a driver for Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services. The box was being loaded onto a truck from the Washington Surgi-Center abortion facility; inside the box were the remains of 110 babies killed in the first trimester, and five children who appeared to have been killed late in pregnancy — and whom experts have stated could likely have survived outside of the womb.
Baby Phoenix was one of those five babies. Experts believe Phoenix may have been born alive during an induced labor abortion, and left to drown in his or her own fluids inside the sac.
Baby Phoenix was found still in the amniotic sac in a medical waste bin outside a DC abortion business. Photo courtesy of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising.
“It is difficult to discern the gestational age, but this baby is probably in the late 2nd or early 3rd trimester,” said former abortionist Dr. Kathi Aultman. “An induction method would have been used for the abortion… he or she may very well have been born alive and then left to die.”
Baby Phoenix, with his or her perfectly formed hands and feet pictured still inside the amniotic sac. Photo courtesy of PAAU.
During a 2013 Live Action undercover investigation, Cesare Santangelo, the owner and abortionist of Washington Surgi-Center, admitted that he does not use feticide to ensure the preborn child dies before the abortion is committed. A 2022 undercover investigation revealed Santangelo’s employee telling a woman that her baby could be born alive in her hotel room during the abortion.
Because Phoenix was still the amniotic sac, the activists could not determine if Phoenix was male or female. PAAU explained, “Phoenix was born en caul, meaning they were still in the amniotic sac. Because of this their sex could not be determined, so we decided a general neutral name would be most fitting.”
Also unable to determine how Phoenix died, the activists were hopeful the police would investigate. They have not done so.
“When we think of a phoenix, we think about rising from the ashes. We know that Phoenix’s life mattered, and their story will influence a culture of life where children like them will no longer be brutalized.”
