A Houston grand jury has decided to indict the creators of the videos exposing the seedy underbelly of Planned Parenthood’s baby parts business.
The Center for Medical Progress’s David Daleiden and another anti-abortion activist, Sandra Merritt, are facing the indictment from a Harris County grand jury. According to The Hill, while jurors concluded that they did not find evidence of illegal activity by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, they did say they believed Daleiden was guilty of foul play:
…Daleiden was indicted for “prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs.” He and Merritt were both indicted for “tampering with a governmental record.”
“It is an affirming day for Planned Parenthood,” Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “We feel vindicated.”
Planned Parenthood has repeatedly accused Daleiden of breaking the law to create his videos, including falsifying government IDs to enter restricted areas like conferences for abortion providers.
Earlier this month, the national organization went on the offensive against Daleiden by filing a lawsuit in federal court accusing the Center for Medical Progress of unlawful behavior ranging from secret taping to trespassing.
Some political observers have pointed out that the indictment is ironic and seems to be self-contradictory:
I’m a little confused here. If PP wasn’t selling anything, how could CMP possibly be buying something? https://t.co/4DRhBxX4tg
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 25, 2016
I’m a bit baffled as to how you indict the buyer, but not the seller, of a product that allegedly doesn’t even exist https://t.co/4DRhBxX4tg
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 25, 2016
RedState’s Jay Caruso writes, “Can you believe the irony here? Planned Parenthood was selling organs. A practice they stopped despite all claims they were doing absolutely nothing wrong and yet is David Daleiden and his associate who are indicted.”
The Federalist points out that one of the prosecutors in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, Lauren Reeder, served as a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood in 2009 and has been a board member of the organization since 2013.
LifeNews provides a brief summary of one of the videos which shows that Planned Parenthood may have violated the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which “requires abortion clinics, hospitals and other places that do abortions to provide appropriate medical care for a baby born alive after a failed abortion or purposefully birthed to ‘let die'”: (emphasis bolded)
[Director of Research for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Melissa] Farrell finally summarizes her affiliate’s approach to fetal tissue payments: “If we alter our process, and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, we can make it part of the budget that any dissections are this, and splitting the specimens into different shipments is this. It’s all just a matter of line items.”
Farrell also indicates to the investigators over lunch that the specimen sales from her department contribute significantly to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s overall finances: “I think everyone realizes, especially because my department contributes so much to the bottom line of our organization here, you know we’re one of the largest affiliates, our Research Department is the largest in the United States. Larger than any the other affiliates’ combined.”
At one point in the video, Planned Parenthood staff show off the body of a 20-week old twin baby aborted and sold for parts.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot (R)—who has been aggressively going after Planned Parenthood since the videos were first released—issued a statement.
“The Health and Human Service Commission’s Inspector General and the Attorney General’s office have an ongoing investigation into Planned Parenthood’s actions,” wrote Abbot. “Nothing about today’s announcement in Harris County impacts the state’s ongoing investigation. The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue.”