15 Felony Charges Filed Against David Daleiden

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LOS ANGELES (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pro-life investigator David Daleiden is being charged with 15 felonies, after secretly filming abortionists and biomedical procurement companies trafficking aborted baby parts in California.

Daleiden's attorney in another case, Charles Limandri of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, who is offering assistance in the current suit, told Church Militant, "The law supports David Daleiden and Susan Merritt. We expect these charges to eventually be dropped just like the Texas criminal charges and the StemExpress lawsuit."

The videos in question, released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) in 2015, sent shockwaves through the United States, exposing the callous and illegal nature of the dealings between Planned Parenthood (PP), tissue procurement companies and research institutions illegally acquiring the body parts of aborted babies.

California Attorney General (AG) Xavier Becerra filed 15 felony charges against Daleiden and CMP partner Sandra Merritt. They are being brought up on 14 charges for "intentionally and without consent" filming and one count of conspiracy to film.

Daleiden has commented, "The bogus charges from Planned Parenthood's political cronies are fake news." He added, "The public knows the real criminals are Planned Parenthood and their business partners."

LiMandri told Church Militant, "It should be only a matter of time before responsible government officials bring charges against StemExpress, the National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood itself — just like they did with Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue partner Da Vinci Biosciences."

Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, is also confident in Daleiden's case.

"David Daleiden and his co-defendant, Sandra Merritt, will be vindicated," he said in a statement released Wednesday. "Their efforts were [in] furtherance of First Amendment values and are clothed with the same Constitutional protection that all investigative journalists deserve and must enjoy. Undercover journalism has been a vital tool in our politics and self-governance."

The complaint alleges that Daleiden, Merritt and others created a phony biomedical research company in order to "gain access to the [National Abortion Federation] conference ... where they secretly video recorded conference speakers, vendors and attendees," and notes they "secretly video recorded private meetings with health care professionals" in four California cities.

"Several of the secretly filmed video segments were edited and subsequently released for public viewing via CMP's website in July of 2015," the complaint further alleges. "Immediately afterward, several of the healthcare providers named and identified in the edited videos began receiving personal death threats.

Becerra, sworn in as AG in January 2017, succeeds previous AG Kamala Harris, an ardent advocate of abortion and Planned Parenthood. Becerra commented, "The right to privacy is a cornerstone of California's Constitution, and a right that is foundational in a free democratic society. We will not tolerate the criminal recording of confidential conversations."

In April 2016, Harris, now a California senator, had Daleiden's home raided. She has a 100-percent pro-abortion history and earned multiple endorsements from the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Law's (NARAL) political action committee. She was awarded the Champion of Choice Award by NARAL Pro-Choice California, which also endorsed her run for U.S. Senate.

In January 2016, Daleiden and Merritt were charged with second-degree felonies in Texas for tampering with government records and the illegal sale of human organs but the charges were dropped in July.

The abortion industry, however, has also employed the use of undercover video in its effort to eliminate crisis pregnancy centers that attempt to persuade women to change their minds about getting abortions.

In 2014, NARAL conducted its own investigation in Montgomery County, Maryland, using video it secretly shot at a non-profit pregnancy center. It used the video to claim the center was harming women by helping them to understand there are other options besides abortion.

An investigation by Dustin Siggins of LifeSite News uncovered collaboration between NARAL and Montgomery County officials to enact a law that would require crisis pregnancy centers to post signs indicating there is no doctor present on the premises and that the county recommends visitors speak with a licensed physician.

A judge overturned the law, commenting, "The county has put no evidence into the record to demonstrate that failure clearly to state that no doctors are on premises has led to any negative health outcomes."

The panel further noted the abortion giant's and biotech companies' obstinacy: "Virtually every entity and individual from whom the panel sought documents did not fully comply ... regardless of whether the documents were required to be produced pursuant to a subpoena or were requested via a letter."

Both California and Texas appear to have focused their criminal investigations on Daleiden and other CMP associates while ignoring what the videos actually expose — crimes committed by PP and its associates.

The U.S. House and the Senate have each conducted independent investigations, resulting in nearly 1,000 pages of reports showing PP and its associates broke the law.

The congressional report shows that PP and the tissue procurement companies unlawfully adjusted their accounting to show they made no profit from the sale of baby parts. It further recommends the defunding of PP, "ensuring that grants no longer available to Planned Parenthood are awarded to healthcare providers that provide comprehensive preventive healthcare for their patients and that do not perform abortions (that are not covered by Medicaid under the Hyde Amendment)."

In December 2016, the Senate Judiciary Committee chided the U.S. Department of Justice for refusing to investigate or prosecute PP and other organizations despite all the evidence showing they committed crimes.

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