Most charges against anti-abortion activists dropped in video case

Prosecutors have dropped the majority of charges against two anti-abortion activists who secretly recorded Planned Parenthood executives. In one of the videos, the activists allegedly discussed the harvesting and sale of aborted fetal tissue with a Planned Parenthood employee.

The case, which has been dragging through the court system since 2017, involved David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress and journalist Sandra Merritt. They posed as workers for a company that claimed to procure fetal tissue and met with Dr. Mary Gatter, the president of the Planned Parenthood Medical Directors’ Council, in February 2015.

Daleiden and Merritt secretly recorded a conversation with Dr. Gatter and released a video of it. However, Planned Parenthood says that the video is heavily edited and misleading. The organization also declined to comment on its authenticity.

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In the video, Merritt asks Dr. Gatter, “What would you expect for intact tissue? What sort of compensation?”

“Well, why don’t you start by telling me what you’re used to paying?” Dr. Gatter responds.

“Okay, I don’t think so. I’d like to hear, I would like to know, what would make you happy? What would work for you?” Merritt asks.

“Well, you know in negotiations, the person who throws out the figure first is at a loss, right?” Dr. Gatter says.

Gatter also tells the activists at one point in the video that Planned Parenthood is “not in it for the money.”

Under U.S. law, the use of fetal tissue for research is legal as long as it meets all requirements. However, selling fetal tissue violates federal law. Researchers can legally reimburse providers for certain costs related to the preparation, transportation and storage of fetal tissue.

The recordings sparked outrage, especially among anti-abortion activists, who called for defunding Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood executives denied selling fetal tissue for profit.

Following the release of the video, a spokesperson for the organization said, “What we see on this tape is a woman who says ‘We’re not in it for the money,’ and that any money must be related to reimbursement for costs.”

Several states, including Florida, Indiana, Georgia and Massachusetts, launched investigations into Planned Parenthood clinics. All found the organization to comply with state and federal laws regarding fetal tissue.

California’s then-attorney general, Kamala Harris, investigated Daleiden and Merritt after the videos were posted online in 2016. Harris was elected to the Senate later that year, and her successor, now former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, brought 15 felony charges related to the illegally obtained videos against Daleiden and Merritt.

Now, nearly a decade later, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has dropped most of the charges.

Daleiden and Merritt pleaded “no contest” to a single felony count of illegally recording someone without their consent.

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In a statement posted on X, Daleiden said: “The state of California agreed to totally dismiss the unprecedented video recording case Kamala Harris brought against me 9 years ago, in exchange for my entering a new plea of ‘no contest’ on a single charge. The agreement involved no admission of wrongdoing, no fines, and no probation.”

Bonta also released a statement saying: “While the Trump administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare. We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means.”