Planned Parenthood Literally Sells Body Parts
In the summer of 2015 the Center for Medical Progress captured the headlines with the release of their exposé on the world of fetal tissue procurement. Led by David Daleiden, the citizen journalist organization had gone undercover at abortion provider conferences, networked with Planned Parenthood and biotech executives, and documented their interactions with hidden cameras. Their goal was to collect evidence of crimes, which prior research led them to believe were taking place. Their claims shocked the country: abortion clinics were profiting off the sales of fetal organs and body parts, and doctors were altering their procedures in order to obtain better specimens.
Some have wondered whether anything significant has come out of CMP's work. Maybe you were aware of this story early on but haven’t come across any encouraging updates. Some might think that David and his team, at best, galvanized the pro-life movement by capturing the abortion industry’s gruesome organ harvesting practices on camera, but never substantiated their claims of illegal conduct on the part of tissue procurement organizations and Planned Parenthood. Here are important facts that are constantly skimmed over or outright misrepresented by much of the reporting.
FACT: Court statements prove the videos were authentic
Earlier this year, when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Texas Planned Parenthood affiliate engaged in malpractice, they stated that the footage they relied on was authenticated by forensic analysts. This runs counter to claims that CMP’s footage was doctored. Even Planned Parenthood’s own lawyers admitted to Judge William Orrick in San Francisco that “the words used by plaintiffs’ personnel and the defendants in videos recorded by the defendants were spoken by those persons.” CMP also uploaded videos of the full conversations so the public would be aware of the context of statements made in the summaries. So much for the videos being “deceptively edited.”
Source: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
November 6, 2019 (Vol. 16)*
No one from CMP has ever been taken to court for lying about Planned Parenthood. People see the headlines about lawsuits and hearings in criminal court and assume the worst. The truth is that Planned Parenthood accused them of filming “confidential” conversations and alleged that their investigative journalism techniques amounted to criminal acts. As a result of a complaint by the National Abortion Federation, several hours of raw video footage have been hidden from the public. Judge Orrick’s injunction has been blocking CMP from sharing this unreleased footage online and in court since August 2015. But despite their hands being tied, CMP has been able to affect a lot of positive change.
Source: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
October 21, 2019 (Vol. 11)*
FACT: The videos culminated in an ongoing FBI investigation
After their own investigations, the majority staff members of two Congressional Committees submitted criminal and regulatory referrals to multiple agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI.
Among the list of organizations referred for further investigation were four California Planned Parenthood affiliates. They had been required by PPFA, the national office, to hire an independent auditor to determine the actual costs of tissue harvesting—to ensure that only legally allowable reimbursements would take place. PPFA’s Manual of Medical Standards also stated that national oversight of ongoing tissue transfer programs was required as part of their accreditation process. But in 2011, when PPFA discovered that affiliates were receiving payments without going through company procedures, they deleted that requirement from their manual. Congressional investigators also discovered that these affiliates only tried to determine their costs after being contacted by the Committee.
One year after referrals were made by the Judiciary Committee, the Department of Justice finally responded to their letter, requesting unredacted documents and announcing the opening of an investigation. Since the FBI doesn’t share information from open investigations with the public we’ll hear about their findings once things come to a conclusion. The only news we’ve heard related to this investigation is that Judiciary Committee leaders requested an update from the FBI this past summer.
FACT: Planned Parenthood collaborators admitted to selling baby body parts in court
The Orange County District Attorney opened an investigation into sister companies DaVinci Biosciences and DV Biologics in 2015, eventually taking them to court over what his office uncovered. After the DaVinci companies admitted guilt, they were ordered to shut down all operations in the State of California and pay millions of dollars in fines. In the December 2017 press release, DA Tony Rackauckas credited CMP for putting DaVinci on their radar.
Source: Orange County DA Website
The Select Panel Report mentioned the following information in connection with the DaVinci companies:
“The company’s sole source of fetal tissue was at Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties." p. 186
"...the Panel discovered an online copy of the Planned Parenthood Orange and San Bernardino Counties’ 2008-2009 program report which listed DaVinci as having donated between $1,000 and $2,499 to the Planned Parenthood affiliate." p. 188
"The fetal tissues and cells that were listed for sale on the first [DaVinci] catalogue included heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, large, intestines, small intestines, skin, skeletal muscle, and bones." p. 189
Source: Center for Medical Progress
FACT: CMP reported their findings to multiple law enforcement agencies before publishing videos online
This was confirmed by Judge Orrick during a recent trial in federal court. These actions show that CMP’s intent from the very beginning was to expose actual crimes—not to inflame the public with lies about abortion providers, as Planned Parenthood constantly tells the press. Once again, no one has ever sued CMP for defamation or slander.
Source: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
October 31, 2019 (Vol. 14)*
FACT: Government officials in Sacramento refused to audit Planned Parenthood
Some like to claim that Planned Parenthood has been totally cleared of wrongdoing, but there is yet to be a State-run investigation in California. A 12-to-2 vote in the Legislative Audit Committee quashed an attempt to get the ball rolling back in 2015. Even with all the developments since then, no investigation into fetal tissue transfers has ever been opened. California Attorney Generals Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra instead focused their efforts on investigating David Daleiden and his team and collaborated with Planned Parenthood to make sure that future undercover work would be more difficult.
As we wait for the DOJ to hand down indictments, we’ll continue rallying in support of David Daleiden, Sandra Merritt, and the rest of the Center for Medical Progress team. An arraignment in the criminal case is scheduled for January 30th in San Francisco Superior Court. CMP’s publicly available videos can be found on their website along with press releases, full-conversation footage, and other research materials.
* Court transcripts from Case No. C 16-0236 WHO are available for public viewing at the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. PDF copies can be purchased from the court and will be available online, at a much cheaper price, through PACER in the next few weeks. Volumes 1-7 are available January 13th, Volumes 8-13 on January 27th, and Volumes 14-22 on February 18th. Pro-Life SF helped cover the trial for Live Action News. All of the articles can be found here.
Update:
David Daleiden, one of the investigative journalists with the Center For Medical Progress is soon to go on trial for criminal charges in SF. Visit our Stand With David campaign page to learn more and get updates!
