Pro-life Activist’s Battle Continues

You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.

See All Plans

SAN FRANCISCO (ChurchMilitant.com) - A pro-life activist continues his battle against the state of California.

A California judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss criminal charges against investigative journalist David Daleiden. The pro-life activist is pledging to continue his pursuit of a lawsuit against former California attorney general Kamala Harris and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).

"As California's top law enforcement officer, @KamalaHarris targeted *messages* her patrons like @PPFA didn't like for criminal punishment," Daleiden tweeted. "That's why I'm suing her and @PPFA for conspiracy to violate First Amendment civil rights. This is why we have the First Amendment."In his tweet the following day, Daleiden said Harris' criminal charges were politically motivated and that's why he is suing her.

He and his colleague, Sandra Merritt, were charged with 10 felony violations of a California law that prohibits recording conversations without consent. While Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos refused Daleiden's request for dismissal of the charges, she dismissed one charge against Merritt and combined two others, reducing criminal charges against Merritt from 10 to eight.

The judge found there was enough evidence against Daleiden and Merritt to warrant a trial and said they could present their defense in court.

Thomas More Society president and chief counsel Tom Brejcha, one of Daleiden's attorneys, explained his client's motives: "David had a reasonable belief that he could find evidence of a felony crime of violence against human beings, namely, infanticide, that is, the killing of babies born alive with beating hearts."

Posing as buyers of fetal tissue, Daleiden and Merritt attended a meeting of abortionists in 2015 and videotaped their conversations with Planned Parenthood executives who were willing to discuss their sale of baby body parts. Daleiden's organization, The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), released the footage, which led to a firestorm of controversy that forced the abortion giant to face scrutiny over the darkest part of their industry.

Harris, who has had longstanding ties to Planned Parenthood, initiated criminal charges against Daleiden when she was California's attorney general, raiding his home in order to gather evidence against him. That raid and Harris' involvement were recently featured on Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Carlson focused on the raid because Harris is a Biden front-runner for the vice presidency. Calling Biden's vice presidential pick the "most consequential" choice in U.S. history, Carlson highlighted Daleiden's civil lawsuit against Harris, which claims she and California attorney general Xavier Becerra, a Catholic, conspired with Planned Parenthood to sabotage his investigation.

Daleiden claims Harris and Becerra violated his First Amendment rights and is weaponizing the state's laws about privacy and secret recording to quash objectionable speech.

In May, Daleiden's CMP released a 15-minute documentary of Planned Parenthood executives' sworn testimony about their policy of selling baby body parts.

Titled "Fetal Trafficking Under Oath: Planned Parenthood's Admission About Baby Parts Sales," it put the pro-life organization back on the offensive, focusing not on whether the undercover footage they obtained violates an abortionist's expectation of privacy but on whether Planned Parenthood is selling baby body parts for "research."

Daleiden isn't backing away from his original mission to expose the abortion industry.

He told Church Militant earlier this year, "Planned Parenthood lawlessness isn't limited to the sale of baby body parts. This is a pattern. There need to be federal consequences."

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.