In the spring of 2016, Planned Parenthood collaborated with officials from then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office to draft legislation targeting David Daleiden, who videotaped Planned Parenthood (PP) officials discussing the sale of fetal body parts.
As reported by The Washington Times, emails accessed via a Public Records Act request show Beth Parker, chief legal counsel for PP, sending multiple drafts of AB 1671 to Jill Habig, the then-special counsel to Harris. The email chain extended from March 8 until April 14.
Daleiden and his organization, The Center for Medical Progress, secretly videotaped the PP officials, which prompted AB 1671. The bill would amend the penal code to make secretly recording and disseminating communications with health care providers a crime. The bill is waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature; he has until the end of March.
On March 8, 2016, Parker wrote Habig: “Attached is the language for AB 1671, proposed amendments to Penal Code section 632. I look forward to your thoughts about this.” Eight days later, Parker sent a revised draft of the legislation, adding “Here’s the rewrite of the video tape bill. Let me know what you think.”
On April 5, Harris launched a raid on Daleiden’s’s apartment; agents seized his laptop, hard drives and phone. All of the video Daleiden had filmed, “including some very damning footage that has yet to be released to the public,” according to Daleiden, was taken.
Ronald D. Rotunda, a professor of jurisprudence at Chapman University, slammed Harris, saying she is a “tool of Planned Parenthood,” adding that she was “working with Planned Parenthood to protect it from criminal prosecution … The state attorney general is supposed to represent the people of California, not a particular industry in California. What would people say if the attorney general would be working with the local slaughterhouses to help them cover up instances of cruelty to animals?”
Ana Sandoval, director of communications for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, acknowledged, “As sponsor of the legislation, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California played an integral part in drafting amendments as the bill moved through the legislative process.”
Steve Cooley, who represents Daleiden, ripped Harris, asserting, “It is common to work on legislation pending before the California state legislature — the attorney general’s office does occasionally weigh in. It is extraordinary to collaborate with a particular entity on what is clearly legislation of specific benefit to them.” He stated that there is a “pattern” of collaboration between PP and Harris’ office, surmising that PP “played a major role in supplying probable cause” for the search warrant for the raid on Daleiden’s apartment. He concluded, “This is going after an individual, a single person who was operating as a citizen journalist. And all the activity and the timing of it all strongly suggests a real partnership between the attorney general and Planned Parenthood.”