Center for Medical Progress President David Daleiden (left) and his colleague, Sandra Merritt (right) (Photo: Twitter)
Lawyers for a defendant in a civil action in California over the 2015 undercover videos that exposed Planned Parenthood and the American abortion industry's profiting from baby body parts say lawyers for abortionists have flubbed.
The civil lawsuit by abortion interests targets David Daleiden, Sandra Merritt and the Center for Medical Progress.
They released a series of videos that show, among other things, one abortionist seeking higher pay for baby body parts because "I want a Lamborghini."
The civil case, in which abortionists are seeking monetary damages for the videos, are a prelude to the criminal case pursued by the state of California against the defendants.
They are accused of secretly recording private conversations in public locations such as conferences and restaurants, even though the law provides an exception for such locations.
The American Center for Law and Justice, which is defending the video makers, said testimony in the case has just begun.
ACLJ said lawyers for Planned Parenthood called co-defendant Susan Merritt of CMP to the stand.
"She is the pro-life grandmother who went undercover to expose Planned Parenthood. The judge in the case has said that the abortion- related nature of the videos should not be the focus of the trial. But the attorney for Planned Parenthood opened the door by asking Merritt why she recorded her conversations with the Planned Parenthood doctor. And the judge allowed it.
"Merritt’s answer was that her main reason for participating was to see if Planned Parenthood was engaged in criminal activity," ACLJ said. "She said that she went undercover to see if abortionists were really willing to alter the abortion procedure in order to profit from the sale of human body parts, such as performing partial-birth abortion. She also wanted to see if any other laws were being violated."
ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow previously explained that abortionists "had fought tooth and nail to keep this information from coming to light, and now their own attorney opened the door. This is a very big deal in this case."
The trial is expected to continue into November.
At the heart of the dispute is whether the recordings were made in locations that were private. California law forbids recording private conversations but does not forbid them when they are in public places, such as restaurants, where many of the videos were made.
That issue is integral to the criminal charges the pro-abortion activists in the state attorney general's office filed against the same defendants.
Judge William Orrick's impartiality also has been questioned because he was on the board of a community group that worked with Planned Parenthood.
The video investigation resulted in the closing down of at least two companies that had been buying body parts from abortionists. The companies were forced to pay penalties of millions of dollars to the state of California. Congress also asked prosecutors to review whether there should be federal counts against the abortionists.
Here are two of the videos released by CMP:
One of the videos that has been suppressed by Orrick includes more information about the body-parts industry.
It was available only briefly online.
However, transcripts of comments by abortion executives have been preserved.
Lisa Harris, medical director for Planned Parenthood of Michigan: "Our stories don't really have a place in a lot of pro-choice discourse and rhetoric, right? The heads that get stuck that we can't get out. The hemorrhages that we manage."
Susan Robinson of Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte in San Jose, California: "The fetus is a tough little object and taking it apart, I mean taking it apart, on day one is very difficult.'
Talcott Camp, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Health Freedom Project: "I'm like oh my god! I get it! When the skull is broken, that's really sharp. I get it, I understand why people are talking about getting that skull out, that calvarium."
Deborah Nucatola, senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America: "You know, sometimes she'll tell me she wants brain, and we'll, you know, leave the calvarium in 'til last, and then try to basically take it, or actually, you know, catch everything, and even keep it separate from the rest of the tissue so it doesn't get lost."
Uta Landy, founder of the Consortium of Abortion providers for Planned Parenthood: "An eyeball just fell down into my lap, and that is gross."
Her comment was followed by raucous laughter from the abortionists at the meeting of the National Abortion Federation.
In December 2015, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives referred the Planned Parenthood Federation of American and six regional affiliates to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.
Operation Rescue noted little attention was given to the issue under President Obama, but after Donald Trump moved into office, the investigations "appeared to show signs of life."
See a CMP video about Planned Parenthood skirting federal law:
The "Lamborghini" executive:
Paying attention to who's in the room when infants are born alive:
Altering abortion procedures:
Selling body parts a "valid exchange":
The post Abortionists' lawyer flubs, asks witness about crimes in industry appeared first on WND.
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