David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, pro-life activists who filmed Planned Parenthood and employees of other abortion groups offering to sell organs from aborted babies in a series of undercover videos, have been indicted on 15 felony counts by the state of California.
Daleiden and Merritt, working for the Center for Medical Progress, each face 14 counts of recording a conversation without the permission of all participants and one count of “criminal conspiracy to invade privacy.”
Anti-abortion activist David Daleiden speaks at a news conference outside a court in Houston, Texas February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Ruthy Munoz
The pair were indicted in Texas in 2016, but those charges were dropped.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement, “The right to privacy is a cornerstone of California’s Constitution, and a right that is foundational in a free democratic society. We will not tolerate the criminal recording of confidential conversations.”
“The public knows the real criminals are Planned Parenthood and their business partners,” Daleiden said in an email to the Associated Press, calling the charges “bogus.”
He also said the charges are being brought by the abortion industry’s “political cronies.”
Becerra, a Democrat and former member of Congress with a lifetime 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, announced the indictments Tuesday night.
The videos, which contained graphic images of aborted fetuses and abortion providers haggling about the prices of organs and joking about wanting to buy sports cars, were largely ignored by the mainstream media. The selling of human organs for profit is illegal, though no charges were ever brought against anyone in the videos.
Planned Parenthood celebrated the indictments on social media, saying Beccera “sends a clear message — you can’t target women & health care providers without consequences.”
CA Attorney General filing criminal charges sends a clear message — you can't target women & health care providers without consequences. https://t.co/dFT42uZUyq
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) March 29, 2017
Daleiden, on the other hand, was defiant on Twitter, saying Planned Parenthood “colluded with political cronies to persecute citizen journalists.”
The last time @PPact colluded with political cronies to persecute citizen journalists, both charges AND corrupt DA thrown out! BRING IT ON!!
— David Daleiden (@daviddaleiden) March 29, 2017
The nine-page indictment can be read here.
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