The inquiry is a test for President Biden and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who both came into office promising to restore the Justice Department’s independence.
The police said they had gone to a home in Washington to investigate a tip about “potential biohazard material” when officers found the fetuses inside. An investigation was continuing.
Prosecutors said the defendants had used their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes to block the doors to an abortion clinic in Washington in 2020 and had livestreamed their actions on Facebook.