On Wednesday, Dec. 6, our motion to save the pro-life heroes of the Center for Medical Progress from unjust penalties was denied. This outcome was the continuation of a long chain of injustices meted out to the whistleblowers who exposed Planned Parenthood’s grisly trade in aborted baby body parts.
When CMP first published its series of undercover videos back in 2015, the abortion industry was shaken as it had never been shaken before. The videos didn’t just allege that Planned Parenthood was peddling baby body parts in violation of federal law. They proved all their “allegations.” They also revealed the seamy underbelly of the abortion industry as Planned Parenthood’s officers were caught on tape discussing, for instance, the removal of “lower extremities” by brute force.
The abortion cartel fought back with every weapon at hand. Its propaganda eventually dominated the headlines. And a barrage of lawsuits aimed to punish CMP for uncovering Planned Parenthood’s secrets. One of these – Planned Parenthood’s own – made it to a jury in super-liberal San Francisco, which found for the plaintiffs and saddled pro-lifers with an outrageous $2 million in damages and almost $14 million in attorney fees.
Our latest attempt to counteract this injustice was a motion under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to vacate or modify the judgment. We cited a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that invalidated Oregon’s recording law as unconstitutional. Since this decision was rendered years after proceedings in Planned Parenthood v. CMP, it couldn’t have been cited at trial. The federal rules specifically allow for setting aside judgments where there is a change in the law.
California’s recording law – the basis for the judgment against CMP – is substantially similar to Oregon’s. Thus, the judgment should have been reconsidered.
But the trial court was having none of it. First, the court blamed the defendants for not having raised the argument sooner, and then decided that the new case was not really new anyway.
We know that this result is as disappointing to our supporters as it is to us. If there’s any silver lining in this dark cloud, it’s what Planned Parenthood was forced to admit in this litigation.
- It admitted that the videos, much decried for “editing” in the mainstream media, were accurate and had not been doctored.
- It admitted that it had received monetary payment for the limbs, internal organs, eyes, and tissue of aborted babies.
- It even became obvious that Planned Parenthood’s hyperventilating about “death threats” to its clinic, patients, and staff was all fiction. Turns out that the most dangerous people around Planned Parenthood clinics, after the doctors who kill babies, are Planned Parenthood patients.
If this country had an honest press, the headlines would have read: “Planned Parenthood admits fetal tissue sales!” Instead, they read something like: “Anti-abortion hoaxsters found liable!”
It’s vital to note that, just as the heroes of CMP refused to abandon children in the womb to the sneering cruelties of Planned Parenthood, people like you refused to abandon the heroes of CMP to a legal system that ignored the principle of equal justice. You and I have nothing to be ashamed of. We fought the good fight.
We hope you’ll stay with us as we continue to fight it.