Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas do not now participate in providing any fetal tissue for research, and the Gulf Coast affiliate has not participated since 2010.
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Remarkably, the decision to indict anti-abortion activists from the Center for Medical Progress – which contrived a horror film about human chop shops and illegal profits made from fetal tissue sales – was made by a grand jury convened by a Republican DA in Texas. The grand jury also indicted Dalieden for the solicitation or sale of human organs, a misdemeanor.
Planned Parenthood officials and the organization’s defenders say the videos have prompted a dramatic rise in violence against abortion clinics, including a November 27 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that left three dead.
The video ignited calls to cut federal funding and demonstrations on both sides nationwide, including a call in Baltimore for continued funding.
“These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda”, said Eric Ferrero, vice president of Communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Shortly after that statement from the Thomas Moore Society, the Weekly received another revealing its attorneys representing Daleiden planned to file a motion to allow him to provide the U.S. Supreme Court with evidence in support of the Texas abortion regulations case (Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole).
Legal experts say the two are not likely to see any prison time if convicted because the accusation in this case – making a false ID card – does not typically result in incarceration, even though tampering with a government record is a felony.
Daleiden “plans to plead not guilty to the charges”, the AP reports, according to Daleiden’s attorney Murphy Klasing.
A Texas grand jury has put a legal end to the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and the sale of fetal tissue.
The grand jury, which-formed to investigate Planned Parenthood following the release of the videos, cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing, and instead chose to indict Daleiden and Merritt.
One of the prosecutors sits on Planned Parenthood’s board of directors. Indeed, LifeSiteNews.com launched a petition campaign calling on Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson to drop the charges against Daleiden and Merritt.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who has accused Planned Parenthood of the “gruesome harvesting of baby body parts”, has said Texas would continue its investigation.
Schaffer said Daleiden was “masterful” at networking his way into Planned Parenthood clinics, a process that involved creating a fake company, replete with state filings and business cards adorned with a bubbling beaker.
However, state officials appear unfazed by these serious allegations – and continue to use the now-discredited videos as their reasoning for pressing ahead with their plans to go after Planned Parenthood.
Daleiden said in a statement: “The Center for Medical Progress uses the same undercover techniques that investigative journalists have used for decades in exercising our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press, and follows all applicable laws”.
Daleiden and Merritt were charged with tampering with a government document, because they allegedly used fake California drivers licenses with an intent to defraud Planned Parenthood.
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SIEGEL: In addition to what the grand jury in Houston did, there’s also a lawsuit that David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress face. Robert Dear, the alleged shooter in the November rampage at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood rampage reportedly told officers “no more baby parts”, a slogan many have speculated was inspired by the undercover videos.
