Attorney General says fetal remains found at Klopfer properties cannot be identified

INDIANAPOLIS—Attorney General Curtis Hill has released a preliminary report on the investigation into over 2,000 medically preserved fetal remains and thousands of medical remains that were found on properties belonging to a now-deceased Indiana abortion doctor.

According to the December report, based on the “poor condition” of the fetal remains and the “unreliable nature” of the found medical records, the Attorney General’s office said that is impossible to independently identify the fetal remains.

Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, who died in September at the age of 79, performed abortions at clinics in Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Gary.

Between September and October of 2019, 2,411 medically preserved fetal remains were found in Illinois at Klopfer’s home and in the trunk of his car at a storage facility.

Hill’s office said the remains appear to be from abortions performed by Klopfer in Indiana between 2000 and 2003. Previously, the remains were thought to be from abortions performed between just 2000 and 2002.

During the initial discovery, remains were found over the course of two days in “various states of decay,” mostly inside of molding boxes and old Styrofoam coolers that contained large medical waste bags, the report said. The remains were preserved in a derivative of formaldehyde.

Leakage and damage were found among the bags that were labeled with personal medical information written in black marker, the report said.

The remains were brought to Indiana and placed into the custody of the St. Joseph County Coroner and will be “interred in a respectful and dignified manner in accordance with state law,” according to Hill’s office.

Since being returned to Indiana, the error-ridden health records have been moved to a secure location and will be maintained by Hill’s office, according to the report.

The report also details Klopfer’s criminal history, including a charge from Lake County in 2014 for failing to timely file a public termination of pregnancy report regarding a 13-year-old patient.

Klopfer faced the same charge also in 2014 in St. Joseph County, the report said.

In 2015, Klopfer closed all three of his clinics after the ISDH found a number of violations at the Women’s Pavilion Clinic in South Bend, according to the report.

Klopfer’s medical license was suspended indefinitely by the state in 2016.

The report also details the closed clinics’ various states of disrepair.

At the South Bend clinic, investigators found health records and clutter in the waiting area and throughout the facility.

Records were in boxes with items including car parts, rotting food, un-sterilized used medical instruments, empty soda cans, and protein shake bottles, the report said.

According to the report, boxes, garbage and debris were stacked floor to ceiling in each room.

A final report will be published at the conclusion of Hill’s office’s investigation.

Click here to read the Attorney General’s full report