Planned Parenthood Video Makers Indicted

A Harris County grand jury investigating allegations that a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston illegally sold the tissue of aborted fetuses has cleared the organization of wrongdoing and instead indicted two anti-abortion activists behind the undercover videos that sparked the probe.

Secret videographers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were both indicted on charges of tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison. Daleiden received an additional misdemeanor indictment under the law prohibiting the purchase and sale of human organs.

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced the surprising indictments Monday after a two-month investigation.

"We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast," said Anderson, a Republican. "As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case."

The probe began after the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group run by Daleiden, released footage of the Houston clinic as part of a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials casually discussing the methods and costs of preserving fetal tissue for scientific research. That prompted allegations that the organization was profiting off of tissue -- an allegation that was never proven -- and sparked calls for an investigation from Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and others.

The Center for Medical Progress did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.

Abbott's office noted in a statement that Paxton and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission still are investigating the videos.

"Nothing about today's announcement in Harris County impacts the state's ongoing investigation," Abbott said. "The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue."

Paxton's office declined comment, as did the health commission.

A spokeswoman for the Houston branch of Planned Parenthood said the news made the organization feel "vindicated."

"It's great news because it demonstrates what we have said from the very beginning, which is that Planned Parenthood is following every rule and regulation, and that these people came into our buildings under the guise of health when their true intentions were to spread lies," said the spokeswoman, Rochelle Tafolla. "We're glad that these extremists have been indicted for breaking the law."

The national organization of Planned Parenthood had said in a letter to Congress that Daleiden was involved in secretly recording staff and patients at least 65 times over the last eight years.

The organization alleged that Daleiden and others used aliases, obtained fake government I.D.s, and formed a fake tissue procurement company in an effort to gain access to private areas and record private conversations to be deceptively edited to create a false impression.

The second indictment for Daleiden suggests that the grand jury found that he went too far in trying to get Planned Parenthood to admit to selling tissue. The crime, a class A misdemeanor is committed if a person intentionally offers to buy or offers to sell a human organ, including fetal tissue. If convicted, the maximum punishment is a year in jail.

So to be clear. It is totally legal to sell unborn fetus parts to medical centers for scientific research.

Yay for Science!

I'm just here to point out that selling unborn fetus parts is totally legal as long as it is not "for-profit"..

Your point?

Get over yourself.

Other than all this is over selling unborn babies? Do I really need to point out the massive elephant in the room here?

Why does it not surprise me to find out Pleebo believes non-profit is the same as donation.

But it is illegal to profit from said sale. One can only recover costs from the preserving and transportation of said parts.

And you might want to check out what conditions these parts help or even cure.

...I guess if the fetus can save lives...

lol, oh the simple ironies of the Left. killing the unborn... to save lives. It would comical if it wasn't tragic.

That PP did nothing wrong and your anti-abortion views don't matter?

Your bias? No, it's apparent.

lol, oh the simple ironies of the Left. killing the unborn... to save lives. It would comical if it wasn't tragic.

What's comical is that you believe it's tragic.

I'm the biased one here..

Coming from the guy that would willing let murders out of prison and hand them a gun.. Yeah your opinion is valuable.

Anything else is murder. If you support it you are an accomplice.

I'm really enjoying the rambling incoherent mess of obvious butthurt from the tinfoil hat section in this thread.

All I see is dead babies and no guilt...

Gosh, you're right. BRB I'ma photoshop a picture of Planned Parenthood flying planes into the World Trade Center. If that doesn't prove their wrong-doing, it's because there's not enough guilt over dead babies.

Aborted fetuses can't melt steel beams.

I'm not anti-abortion.. Just as long as its done within the first month, or rape, or incest, or the mothers life is at risk.. Anything else is murder. If you support it you are an accomplice.

lol, oh the simple ironies of the Left. killing the unborn... to save lives. It would comical if it wasn't tragic.

I'm not anti-abortion.. Just as long as its done within the first month, or rape, or incest, or the mothers life is at risk.. Anything else is murder.

LoL, yea.. I'm the bias one here..

No, it isn't. That's your opinion, which doesn't align to reality, there's a word for that.