Riotta writes: "An anti-abortion group broke the law by trespassing, illegally recording and manipulating videos to make Planned Parenthood officials appear as though they were profiting off fetal tissue donations, a federal jury ruled on Friday."
Pro-choice activists rally in support of Planned Parenthood. (photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
17 November 19
'The jury recognised today that those behind the campaign broke the law in order to advance their goals of banning safe, legal abortion'
n anti-abortion group broke the law by trespassing, illegally recording and manipulating videos to make Planned Parenthood officials appear as though they were profiting off fetal tissue donations, a federal jury ruled on Friday.
The six-week trial ended with the jury ordering the Centre for Medical Progress to pay nearly $2.3m (£1.8m) in damages for violating multiple federal and state laws.
David Daleiden, the president of the anti-abortion group, was found to have trespassed on private property and committed other crimes in recording the 2015 videos. He and other employees of the centre were ordered to pay varying amounts.
Mr Daleiden and a co-defendant, Sandra Merritt, are set to go on trial starting 6 December on 14 counts each of invasion of privacy. They have pleaded not guilty and argue they are undercover journalists shielded from prosecution.
Planned Parenthood sued the activists as part of what the group called "a multi-year illegal effort to manufacture a malicious campaign.''
"The jury recognised today that those behind the campaign broke the law in order to advance their goals of banning safe, legal abortion in this country, and to prevent Planned Parenthood from serving the patients who depend on us,'' the organisation's acting president and chief executive, Alexis McGill Johnson, said in a statement.
Mr Daleiden said the jury reached the verdict after a "biased judge with close Planned Parenthood ties spent six weeks trying to influence the jury with pre-determined rulings and suppressed the video evidence.''
The judge in the civil trial barred the release of some the videos.
Planned Parenthood meanwhile celebrated the news in a statement on Friday that read: “David Daleiden and the Centre for Medical Progress intentionally waged a multi-year illegal effort to manufacture a malicious campaign against Planned Parenthood.
The statement continued: “The jury recognised today that those behind the campaign broke the law in order to advance their goals of banning safe, legal abortion in this country, and to prevent Planned Parenthood from serving the patients who depend on us.”
Mr Daleiden and Ms Merritt sneaked into numerous Planned Parenthood meetings and other abortion rights gatherings and shot undercover videos of their attempts to buy fetal material. They published the videos in 2015.
Planned Parenthood argued that the videos were heavily edited to unfairly show workers agreeing to sell fetal material for profit, which the group says it does not do.
The videos led to three congressional enquiries and criminal investigations in at least 15 states.
Planned Parenthood says it doesn't sell fetal material for profit and charged only modest expenses to cover costs of donating it for medical research. The organisation stopped seeking reimbursement for its shipping costs, and it never faced charges.
