Indiana authorities plan to bury the remains of 2,411 aborted babies Wednesday in South Bend after they were discovered last fall on the property of the late abortionist Ulrich Klopfer.
WANE News 15 reports Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s Office announced plans to hold a memorial and graveside service at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Southlawn Cemetery and Palmer Funeral Home in South Bend.
Hill plans to speak at the service and provide an update about the investigation. In January, his office announced that poor record-keeping and the disintegration of the babies’ bodies made it impossible for each baby to be identified. The babies are believed to be from abortions between 2000 and 2003.
In September, authorities found 2,246 medically preserved remains of aborted babies stored in boxes in the former Indiana abortionist’s garage 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.
From the beginning, Hill, who is pro-life, said he would make sure the babies were given a proper burial.
Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, said the babies would have been young adults by now.
“Had they not been aborted, the 2,411 children whose tiny bodies will be laid to rest on Wednesday would now be in their late teens,” Scheidler said. “They’d be finishing high school, starting college, entering careers, planning for their futures. Instead, they will be buried, nameless and unknown — the only act of justice we can offer them.”
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Scheidler mourned that thousands of unborn babies continue to be aborted every day in America, and “every one of them is a fellow human being” who deserves to live.
Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter said the gruesome discovery is one reason why Indiana’s burial law is so important. Upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019, the law requires abortion facilities to bury or cremate the remains of aborted babies.
“This is a heartbreaking reminder that the world lost something of enormous value when these little lives were cut short by abortion,” Fichter said. “We pray that the dignified and humane burial of these children is not the end of their story, but will serve as a constant reminder why we must always speak up when the God-given value of human life is denied.”
Recently, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun introduced the Dignity for Aborted Children Act to extend the cremation/burial requirement to all 50 states.
Right to Life of Michiana Executive Director Jackie Appleman said they plan to hold a memorial service on Feb. 23 as well if people cannot attend this week. It will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 23 at Southlawn Cemetery. Right to Life Michiana, Right to Life Northeast Indiana and Lake County Right to Life are hosting the service.
“We are grateful but saddened for this opportunity to mourn for the lives lost and the families broken by the violence of abortion,” Appleman said. “This is a tangible reminder of the inhumanity and horror of the abortion industry. Abortion is the ultimate form of dehumanization; it poisons, dismembers, and kills the most innocent among us.”
Klopfer worked as an abortionist for decades in South Bend, Gary and Fort Wayne, Indiana. The state revoked his license in 2016 for failing to report the rape of a 13-year-old patient and other health violations.
Authorities believe the babies’ bodies are from abortions performed between 2000 and 2003 in Indiana. Authorities also said they found medical records abandoned among Klopfer’s things.
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.
