In April 2022, the Washington police found the remains of five foetuses in the home of anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy. The then 28-year-old, who is famous for working with groups like Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, was blasted after someone tipped law enforcement off about “potential bio-hazard material” at her home. It looked like Handy decided to go dumpster diving at the organ bank of the University of Washington in Seattle. Alongside fellow anti-abortion activist Terrisa Lin Bukovinac, Hady fished out the foetal remains and accused Curtis Bay Medical Waste, which provided the pickup, of using “the corpses of aborted babies to make electricity for the households and businesses of the Baltimore area.” Sure.

Despite this not being Handy’s first altercation with the law either, something miraculous happened in January 2025: she was pardoned by none other than US President Donald J. Trump.

Lauren Handy is an American activist who notably identifies as progressive and atheist, rather than conservative and Christian, like most abortion opponents.

Handy has previously stated that she uses both she/her and they/them pronouns and is the director of activism for Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU). Still, the group has been accused of co-opting rhetoric from social and reproductive justice movements and bending it to fit an extreme anti-choice agenda.

In other words, Handy is disguising incredibly conservative and regressive politics as progressive ones.

The radical activist was previously indicted and convicted for blocking access to a reproductive health centre along with nine other activists. After being slapped with a 57-month prison sentence for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, Handy was pardoned by the incumbent President Trump, aka the guy, who boasted about overturning the constitutional right to abortions, Roe V Wade. What a pair!

The answer is very murky, to this day. Lauren Handy reportedly told a reporter that “people will freak out when they hear” what detectives found inside her house. And she was right. The story made national headlines and caused a buzz online. However, the activist has never explicitly commented on why she did what she did.

The University of Washington noted that the foetuses in its possession were intended to be studied for birth defects and other congenital health issues. A spokesperson of UoW added that they were scheduled for “respectful cremation,” according to The Guardian.

However, Handy and Bukovinac, PAAU’s founder and executive director, insisted that the foetuses came from dilation and extraction abortions, a procedure that was banned by conservatives in Congress in 2003.

The two maintained that they received the remains from a driver for Curtis Bay, after assuring him that they would provide a “proper burial.” They claim to have accepted a box filled with 110 sets of fetal remains from first-trimester abortions, along with the five foetuses.

However, this statement contradicted the Curtis Bay’s records: “On 25 March, a Curtis Bay employee took custody of three packages from the Washington Surgery Center (Washington Surgi-Clinic) and delivered all of them to Curtis Bay’s incineration facility. At no time did the Curtis Bay employee hand over any of these packages to the PAAU or other third party, and any allegations made otherwise are false.”

This obscures the origins of the foetuses. However, the activist previously indicated, in a now-deleted post on X, that she frequently goes foetus diving in dumpsters while she is out on the prowl. It might shed some light on how she got her hands on the remains…

Lauren Handy is back to doing what she does best, pestering and harassing those around medical centres that provide abortion. The Carol Whitehill Moses Center, which is one the sidewalk in front of the sole Planned Parenthood clinic in Washington DC, is Handy’s part-time office.

She regularly uses this location to tell every surrounding person that “there’s free help for you and your family” and “they kill babies in there.”

Laura Meyers, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., describes Handy as “a constant presence outside our D.C. health centre.” In an emailed statement to The Cut she wrote: “She and other anti-abortion activists regularly bully, intimidate, and menace our patients and staff, block access to our health centre, and verbally assault people simply trying to access health care while hurling misinformation, lies, and invective.”

And thanks to Trump, Handy’s back on the streets. Watch out!