Anti-Abortion Activists Sued By Planned Parenthood
The video that was secretly recorded last year of the Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue led to a lawsuit that was just filed on Thursday. Although the video sparked uproars with Republican lawmakers who believed that Planned Parenthood was making money off of selling the tissue, it was announced that the group does not profit from the sale, but instead donates it towards medical research.
As reported on CNN, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California chief executive Kathy Kneer stated this in her report.
“We are filing this lawsuit to hold accountable the people behind this reckless and malicious smear campaign that was designed only to spread lies about Planned Parenthood,”
The defendants allegedly used fake identities, both personal and corporate, as well as set themselves up as a fake tissue procurement company. They were able to illegally attend meetings with the Planned Parenthood group where they taped the meetings.
Included in this lawsuit are accusations of privacy invasion, illegal secret recording, trespassing, and mail fraud.
David Daleiden of The Center for Medical Progress considers the lawsuit “a last-ditch move of desperation.”
“Game on… I look forward to deposing all the CEOs, medical directors, and their co-conspirators who participated in Planned Parenthood’s illegal baby body parts racket.”
Canada Journal reports the vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Dawn Laguens, announced that Planned Parenthood has not been involved in any illegal selling of fetal tissue and there has been no profit made from tissue donations.
“This case is about a network of anti-abortion extremists and the laws they broke in order to spread lies and harm Planned Parenthood. This entire smear campaign is a fraud built on illegal acts and a web of lies.”
Planned Parenthood allows patients to donate fetal tissue for the use of medical research. This research is meant for medical breakthroughs for things such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease treatments, as well as vaccines. Tissue donation is completely at the discretion and consent of the patient.
There have been 11 states who have concluded investigations with Planned Parenthood tissue donations, and all have cleared them of any wrongdoing or illegal actions.
“Daleiden and his co-conspirators’ goal in releasing these grossly misleading videos was to disrupt Planned Parenthood’s operations to prevent millions of women and men from getting the care we provide,” Laguens said. “But their ultimate goal is to make all abortion illegal and they will stop at nothing – including breaking the law and lying – to pursue their misguided and deeply unpopular agenda.”
Planned Parenthood is not all about abortion. They provide men and women with high quality healthcare, including STD testings and treatments, birth control, cancer screenings, and sexual health education. They provide women who are considering abortion information on all of their options.
BioMax Procurement Services, LLC is the allegedly fake corporation used by the defendants to make their way into conferences. All of the defendants are anti-abortion activists. David Daleiden, who is the president of the Center for Medical Progress, created BioMax, and allegedly used the name Robert Sarkis as an alias. David is the former director of Live Action, a discredited anti-abortion organization.
The secretary of the Center for Medical Progress, Troy Newman, also operated Operation Rescue. Operation Rescue displayed a website with all the names and addresses, as well as photos, of all the doctors who perform abortions. He allegedly called the murder of abortion doctor, John Britton, a “justifiable defensive action.”
The chief financial officer of the Center for Medical Progress, Albin Rhomberg, was known for harassing women who were seeking abortion services and was eventually arrested in 1991. Phillip Cronin took part in the illegal acts and was a registered agent for the fake corporation BioMax.
Gerardo Adrian Lopez acted as an employee of BioMax and took part in recording the conferences and meetings with Planned Parenthood.
Sandra Susan Merritt acted as the corporation’s CEO and founder. Merritt and Daleiden previously worked together on a campaign aided towards anti-abortion.
The complaint states the defendants, Troy Newman, David Daleiden, Sandra Merritt, Albin Rhomberg, Phillip Cronin, Gerardo Lopez, BioMax, and the Center for Medical Progress, engaged in complex illegal and criminal enterprise to prevent Planned Parenthood to complete their legal reproductive health services. It was an attempt to “defraud Planned Parenthood,” as stated on Sierra Sun Times.
View the Planned Parenthood Complaint here.
[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
