A coalition of pro-life activists calls for justice after exposing a freezer full of human fetal remains at the University of Washington.
On March 9, leaders of anti-abortion groups, including Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, Pro-Life San Francisco, and Rehumanize International were able to get inside the University of Washington in Seattle and see “the largest and most active fetal organ bank in the nation.”
Through a small glass window, activists took a disturbing picture of a cold storage room with rows of paper bags containing body parts of aborted babies. The walk-in freezer is located at the university’s Birth Defects Research Laboratory.
Terrisa Bukovinac, Founder of PAAU, alerted the public about the revolting practice done with aborted fetuses. “The American people must be made aware of the mass dehumanization of these unborn children who are violently killed and thrown into a freezer, whose body parts are then portioned out to researchers in pursuit of federal funding.” She hopes the photo they took is proof that, “there are real victims being lethally oppressed by UW and traded like property.”
Fetal trafficking is abhorrent and it must end. —Terrisa Bukovinac, Founder of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising
“Fetal trafficking is abhorrent and it must end,” the pro-life leader demanded.
The coalition accused UW of distributing and trafficking body parts and whole cadavers of unborn babies. They included a copy of a 2013 invoice itemizing two units of brain costing $200 each.
“Despite how their traffickers choose to price their body parts, we know that these children’s worth is infinite and inherent,” said Herb Geraghty, Executive Director of Rehumanize International. “It is only by exposing these unethical practices to the public and the media that we can hope to end them.”
Dr. David Prentice, vice president of research at Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), issued a statement condemning the awful practice. “The University of Washington serves as the Amazon for baby body parts. Harvesting baby body parts and parceling them out like parts from an old car is barbaric.”
“Storing these organs and body parts in paper bags might be more convenient for their ‘next day’ and ‘same day’ delivery options but only emphasizes how their entire trafficking operation is out of touch with the intrinsic value and dignity of each human being,” Prentice added.
The Birth Defects Research Laboratory at UW has been federally funded to collect and distribute fetal tissues for research. The fetal tissues are used at top science centers not only in Seattle but in other sites in the country as well. Fetal cells are used to study diseases, disorders, and the development of vaccines.
In an article at Seattle Times, Stacey DiNuzzo, then spokeswoman for Seattle Children’s said, “Our scientists learn so much from these fetuses.”
Dan Kennedy of Human Life of Washington said they don’t oppose medical research for the advancement of science, but clarified that “…we do object to research from sources that we see as unethical. It is a gruesome, gruesome practice and we would urge all of those involved in it to get out of it.”
UW has been in the hot seat for using aborted fetal tissues for research. In 2016, Congress found UW involved in highly suspicious fetal organ harvesting practices. A report by the US House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee detailed how the university received fetal tissue from “over a dozen clinics” and charged recipients of the tissue with “a flat fee of $200.”
The report revealed that, “The Panel’s independent research found that UW deploys doctors to outside abortion clinics and that numerous physicians on the staffs of those clinics hold faculty positions at UW.”
Much as we would like to turn a blind eye, fetal organ trafficking is a thriving market in the US and around the world. It generates millions in federal funding for medical research. The UW Birth Defects Research Laboratory received $600,000 in taxpayer funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2015.
The unborn child still is a valuable life. Once a conception happens, there is already life in the womb. As it says in Psalm 139:13-14:
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
