Pro-Lifers Fined Millions, Now They'll Appeal Ruling in Case Exposing Planned Parenthood's Sale of Baby Body Parts
A pro-life leader says he will appeal a multi-million dollar judgment handed down by a federal court last week in San Francisco, CA.
The court awarded Planned Parenthood and affiliates damages in excess of $2.3 million in their civil case against undercover journalist David Daleiden and several of his associates. Planned Parenthood sued Daleiden and his colleagues after the 2015 release of a series of investigative videos that exposed Planned Parenthood's trafficking in aborted baby body parts.
They recorded Planned Parenthood officials talking about methods of obtaining organs from aborted babies.
"So, if we alter our process and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers. It's all just a matter of line items," Planned Parenthood Research Director Melissa Farrell said in one of the undercover videos.
And they also laughed about how much money they can make.
"We agreed that $100 would keep you happy?" an unidentified female voice asks off-camera. Dr. Mary Gatter, the president of the Medical Directors' Council for Planned Parenthood Federation of America agrees during the question and then responds, "I want a Lamborghini, no," she says and then laughs. "I said I want a Lamborghini."
Daleiden's undercover videos were so shocking, Congress issued criminal referrals for Planned Parenthood, and numerous states and elected officials have moved to strip funding from the abortion provider.
But a California court found Daleiden and the defendants guilty on a host of charges, including RICO, the federal Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations law—a federal law that triples any damage award. The defendants also must pay punitive damages exceeding $800,000.
The Thomas More Society has announced it will appeal the judgment on behalf of Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress.