‘In quest of justice’

Richard A. Sokerka

Remember David Daleiden? Those of us who are pro-life certainly do.

He is an undercover journalist and the project lead at the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), a citizen journalist group that has worked to document the role of Planned Parenthood, other abortion providers, and tissue procurement companies in the trade of body parts of aborted babies.

In 2015, CMP began releasing undercover footage of Planned Parenthood officials and current and former employees of the company StemExpress, which obtained fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood for compensation. They posed as representatives of a fetal tissue procurement company and discussed prices for fetal tissue of aborted babies with Planned Parenthood officials.

Daleiden’s group took more undercover footage at National Abortion Federation conventions which CMP gained access to by paying the admission and providing false personal identifications and the name of a non-existent medical supply company.

NAF filed a suit to prevent Daleiden from releasing the footage to the public, alleging a breach of contract that attendees could not publish undercover footage of the convention.

An emergency “gag” order by U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick III in 2016 prevented the footage from being released to the public. The judge’s order was extended indefinitely. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s order.

The district court had said that “there is no doubt that members of the public have a serious and passionate interest in the debate over abortion rights and the right to life, and thus in the contents of defendants’ recordings,” but Orrick ruled that to release the footage to the public could result in violence against abortion clinics.

But CMP released footage from the NAF convention, showing attendees discussing how they encountered fetal body parts like eyeballs and skulls in abortion procedures. Footage also showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing monetary compensation for fetal tissue from aborted babies.

In response, Orrick held Daleiden in contempt of court and fined him, CMP, and his lawyers for releasing the footage that was under the gag order.

In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the center said that the order barring the release of the videos was “imposed specifically for the purpose of hiding information from the public, precisely because the information is of such significant public interest and concern — the procurement and sale of aborted fetal body parts.”

Tom Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society, a not-for-profit, national public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty, is representing Daleiden in his appeal to the Supreme Court. “We are appealing to the highest court in quest of justice,” Brejcha said. “This lawsuit was brought against Mr. Daleiden by NAF because he dared to expose the truth about their members’ profiting from an illegal trade in the remains of human beings,” Brejcha said.

Pro-lifers will eagerly await the Supreme Court’s decision.