The remains of the 2,411 aborted babies found on abortionist Ulrich Klopfer’s property cannot be identified, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill announced Tuesday in a report.
No one knows why Klopfer kept the aborted babies in his garage. Many of his former patients have been re-traumatized by the discovery, including one woman who said she was forced to abort her unborn child. Now, they will never know if their baby was one of the bodies Klopfer kept.
Poor record-keeping and the disintegration of the babies’ bodies made it impossible for them to be identified, the attorney general’s report states.
The report explains that “based on the poor condition of the fetal remains and unreliable nature of the accompanying records, it is not possible to make an independent verification of the identities of the individual fetal remains,” NBC Chicago reports.
In September, authorities found 2,246 medically preserved remains of aborted babies in the former Indiana abortionist’s home in Illinois. A few weeks later, they found 165 more babies’ remains in a vehicle stored on one of his properties. Klopfer’s family reported finding the remains shortly after he died Sept. 3. Indiana and Illinois authorities have been working together to investigate the gruesome discovery.
“We can only take comfort in knowing God knows each of these aborted children by name, just as He knows each of the nearly 8,000 unborn children killed by abortion each year in our state,” Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said in response to the news. “These children will not be forgotten, and we pray 2020 brings us one year closer to ending the tragedy and injustice of abortion.”
In the report, Hill’s office said the babies are believed to be from abortions that Klopfer performed between 2000 and 2003 at his now-closed facilities in Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend, Indiana.
Here’s more from NBC Chicago:
Hill’s office is working with its Illinois counterpart to investigate the remains. That investigation has also uncovered thousands of abandoned patient medical records at Klopfer’s former Indiana clinics and other properties.
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Hill’s office said it expects to release a final report on the fetal remains in the coming months.
The fetal remains were returned to Indiana and according to the new report, they will eventually be “interred in a respectful and dignified manner in accordance with state law.” The patient records will be maintained and safeguarded “until such a time as they can be disposed of properly.”
Hill promised that the babies will be given a proper burial at the conclusion of the investigation. It is not clear where they will be buried, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend offered to allow the babies to be buried in one of its cemeteries.
“From the time we first learned of the gruesome discovery of these remains, we have sought to exercise our statutory authority with great care and prudence,” Hill said. “This case exemplifies the need for strong laws to ensure the dignified disposition of fetal remains, like those passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2016 and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019.”
In September, pro-life lawmakers introduced a federal bill to ensure that nothing like this happens again. U.S. Sen. Mike Braun’s Dignity for Aborted Children Act would require abortion facilities to bury or cremate the remains of aborted babies. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s burial law in 2019.
Several women have come forward asking if their aborted babies are among those that Klopfer kept. Authorities encouraged any former patients to call a special hotline set up for the investigation: 317-234-6663. People also may email [email protected].
Klopfer worked as an abortionist for decades in Indiana. The state revoked his license in 2016 for failing to report the rape of a 13-year-old patient and other health violations.
A doctor who knew Klopfer speculated that he kept the babies’ remains as some sort of gristly trophy.
