The videos released by the Center for Medical Progress following years of undercover investigation at Planned Parenthood ignited a firestorm of controversy. Planned Parenthood executives and officials were found to be allegedly engaging in the illegal sales of the body parts of aborted babies.
Multiple congressional investigations were opened into Planned Parenthood, along with state investigations across the country. Even more states voted to defund Planned Parenthood. But in January, rather than indict Planned Parenthood, a Harris County jury instead indicted David Daleiden and his colleague, Sandra Merritt. It was a move that had even abortion advocates calling foul.
Now, Daleiden has finally been vindicated, as a Harris County judge has dropped a charge against him for allegedly seeking to purchase human organs. In a statement, the Center for Medical Progress applauded the ruling, calling the charge against Daleiden “bogus”.
Judge Diane Bull’s swift dismissal of the bogus charge against CMP founder David Daleiden of trafficking human organs is the latest confirmation that the indictments from a runaway grand jury in Houston were a politically-motivated sham all along. In finding that the indictment was void on its face, Judge Bull’s ruling directly contradicts the District Attorney’s argument that the indictment was valid despite the DA’s collusion with Planned Parenthood.
The dismissal of the first indictment today sends a strong message to Planned Parenthood and their political cronies that colluding to suppress the First Amendment rights of citizen journalists will never work. The Center for Medical Progress follows all applicable laws in the course of its investigative journalism work and as more details about Planned Parenthood’s contracts for aborted baby parts come to light, it’s clear that Planned Parenthood and their business partners like StemExpress are the ones who are guilty of trafficking in human body parts.
Daleiden still has to face a charge of allegedly tampering with a government record for using a fake ID during his undercover investigation.
The indictment against Daleiden and Merritt has come under heavy criticism amid suspicion that it was politically motivated. It was revealed Harris County prosecutor Lauren Reeder is a Planned Parenthood director who sits on the board of an affiliate. In addition, Planned Parenthood attorney Josh Schaffer boasted that the district attorney’s office was sharing information with him.
Live Action President Lila Rose also condemned the double standard officials appeared to have shown in handling this case.
It’s incomprehensible that David Daleiden was charged with attempting to purchase baby body parts, but Planned Parenthood wasn’t charged for allegedly negotiating to sell them. David’s intent was clear to the district attorney from the start: He was posing as an organ buyer to expose the barbaric practice and end Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in baby parts. The district attorney knew David never intended to buy organs, which is why this charge was bogus from the start.
Here we are, nearly a year after Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast officials were caught on video talking about altering abortions to deliver fully intact babies for dissection, as well as how much the parts trafficking business ‘contributes so much to the bottom line’ for Planned Parenthood, yet nothing has been done to hold them accountable.
This decision is a step in the right direction by the justice system in dealing with investigative journalism. While Planned Parenthood experienced a setback in Texas this week, in California, it continues its outrageous attacks on the freedom of the press and has pushed a bill to make it a crime for the news media to publish recordings of undercover footage taken inside its abortion facilities.”
One of the largest campaign donors to the district attorney’s re-election campaign is a pro-abortion lawyer, Chip Lewis, who represents notorious late-term abortionist Douglas Karpen. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, District Attorney Devon Anderson, who is the DA who charged Daleiden, admitted to breaking the law in her zeal to prosecute Daleiden.
While pro-abortion activists and Planned Parenthood apologists pretended that the indictment against Daleiden and Merritt absolved Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing, the grand jury never even voted on Planned Parenthood’s case. The Texas investigation into Planned Parenthood is still ongoing, and they are still under investigation.
