Family discovers 2000 foetuses at abortion doctor's house days after he dies

An investigation is under way in the US after the remains of more than 2000 foetuses were found at the home of an abortion doctor who died 10 days ago.

The 2246 foetal remains were discovered in the home of Dr Ulrich Klopfer in Will County, Illinois.

Klopfer died on September 3. While family members were going through his house they found the medically preserved foetuses.

An attorney representing his family called the Will County coroner's office to inform them the family had discovered what appeared to be the remains of foetuses and ask for assistance in properly removing them, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

When detectives arrived at the address, they found the preserved foetal remains.

There was no suggestion abortions were performed at the house, a statement said.

Klopfer used to practice at the Women's Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana.

The state of Indiana suspended Klopfer's medical license in 2015 for failing to exercise reasonable care and violating several notice and documentation requirements. He was accused of failing to report an abortion preformed on a 13-year-old.

Despite it not being part of the complaints that were brought against him, Klopfer also spoke about performing an abortion on a 10-year-old girl at an Illinois hospital after she had been raped by her uncle.

Instead of notifying police about the child abuse, however, he allowed her to return home with her parents, who knew about the rape and had refused to prosecute the uncle.

Despite the suspension, Klopfer reportedly had very few complications during the procedures.

It was estimated that he had performed tens of thousands of abortion procedures in multiple Indiana counties for decades, making him "likely" to be the state's "most prolific abortion doctor in history", according to the South Bend Tribune.

Klopfer first began performing abortions in 1973 following the legalisation of abortion by Roe v. Wade, the Journal Gazette reported.

The investigation is ongoing.