Warning: Graphic Murder Victim Imagery •
Warning: Graphic Murder Victim Imagery •
The Butcher of DC
Responsible for the 115 babies and his (covered-up) history of violence.
PAAU recovered the 115 aborted babies Washington Surgi-Clinic, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington DC, on the George Washington University (GWU) campus. There are no technical legal limits on abortion in the District of Columbia.
Washington Surgi is one of the handful of abortion providers nationwide that advertises services past 26 weeks gestation for any reason. The abortionist, Cesare Santangelo, charges up to $12,000 for these surgical procedures.
[protest outside Washington Surgi]
[BIPOC doula on Santangelo’s malpractice]
Santangelo has a history of flaunting legal and moral standards, including:
In a 2013 undercover video, Santangelo attested: "Legally we would be obligated to help [the baby born alive], you know, to survive. But, you know, it probably wouldn’t. It’s all in how vigorously you do things to help a fetus survive at this point... we would not help it. We wouldn’t intubate... Like ‘do not resuscitate’ orders. We would do the same things here.”
In other words, he is willing to commit infanticide if babies are born alive during his abortion procedures.
In the same footage, Santangelo states that, rather than administer an injection of feticide to stop the baby’s heart, he cuts their umbilical cord and waits for them to bleed out and die by cardiac arrest.
According to The Society of Family Planning, up to 50% of labor induction later abortions performed without feticide can result in Born-Alive Infants. Hence it is plausible that Santangelo performs federally illegal partial-birth abortions and leaves survivors to die.
In 2022, undercover footage confirmed that Santangelo does not use feticide such as digoxin, and exposed that he has his nurses drug his patients prior to their consultations, so they can’t give informed consent to the procedures. A 2013 board review notes that his pre-consent and consent forms do not match and are poorly completed.
Additionally, Santangelo is known to perform surgical abortions without use of an ultrasound, drastically increasing the already high risk of injuring the uterus.
In May 2010, Rebecca Carey Charland had suffered a second-trimester miscarriage. She was referred to Santangelo's office for a dilation & evacuation (D&E) procedure to remove the remains of her deceased child. Santangelo prevented Carey from finding out she was at higher risk of hemorrhaging and infection. He perforated her uterus, allowing fetal remains to contaminate her lungs. He waited almost twenty minutes to contact emergency services. Because he waited so long, the EMS responders could not save her. She died later that afternoon at the GWU Hospital.
In August 2019, Katherine Musgrove came to Washington Surgi to kill a baby with an abnormality at 23 weeks. Santangelo neglected to inform her upon examination that her baby had already died naturally and labor could be safely induced. Instead, he botched a high-risk extraction procedure, tearing into her bowels. She required emergency surgery.
Elizabeth Almeyda also filed for malpractice against Santangelo in 2014, and two hospitals filed complaints against his clinic for botched abortions.
The DC government protects Cesare Santangelo. In his 2013 review, the Washington DC Department of Health excused his actions by stating that "these complications are fairly common with [second- and third-trimester abortions]", and because Santangelo "is the go-to referral for these kind of high risk cases".
We are still offering $25,000 to any staffer of Cesare Santangelo who will testify under oath to his crimes.
The negligence of the DC government lets Santangelo walk free, profiting off his violence against pregnant and pre-born people. DC government must acknowledge their role in protecting this abuser. Starting a thorough investigation into Santangelo and the Washington Surgi-Clinic is the least they can do to right their wrongs of the past few decades. We continue to demand #JusticeForTheFive, and for all living and dead victims harmed by Cesare Santangelo.
Recently, it’s been revealed that both abortion funds and OBGYNs have blacklisted Santangelo for harming their previously referred patients. The online reviews for his clinic also mention born-alive abortion survivors, botched procedures, deliberate misinformation, drugging patients, almost killing several women, prioritizing profit over people, and infanticide. As Santangelo doesn’t come into the clinic until the afternoon, potentially people have delivered babies alive in the morning and his nurses killed them. See the evidence for yourself:
[Evidence that Santangelo commits infanticide]
