Life Legal is grateful for the opportunity to represent David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). In July 2015, David released the first of a series of undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s sale of baby body parts.
We wanted to give you an overview of what has happened on the legal front since then.
In July, shortly after the release of the first video, David was hit with two separate lawsuits. The first was filed by StemExpress, a procurer or broker of fetal body parts. The second suit was filed by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), of which Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers are members. The NAF lawsuit alleged thirteen separate counts of action and sought an injunction to keep David’s videos out of public view. NAF is represented by one of the largest law firms in the nation, employing some 1,000 attorneys.
In August, Life Legal filed an “anti-SLAPP” motion. A “SLAPP” or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation is designed to chill speech by making it prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to defend a lawsuit. Life Legal argues that NAF’s suit is baseless and was only filed to silence David and prevent the public from knowing the truth about the trade in fetal body parts. NAF later amended its complaint, and Life Legal plans to respond with another anti-SLAPP motion.
In September the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals got involved by issuing a temporary stay on discovery, which was later lifted. September also saw the first of many congressional hearings in conjunction with a formal investigation into the practices of Planned Parenthood. As part of the investigation, Congress issued a subpoena seeking CMP’s raw video footage, which NAF attempted to prevent CMP from complying with.
In October, a federal court ruled that CMP could send the videos to Congress.
The NAF lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase, which means that David and his lead attorney, Life Legal’s Katie Short, have spent long hours in depositions and preparing papers this month. Katie is preparing for another critical federal court hearing, which is scheduled for mid-December.
For background information on this very important case, please see timeline below.
While this will be a long fight, we are doing everything we can to protect David’s First Amendment rights and to fight the allegations leveled against him. This is truly David versus the Goliaths of the abortion industry and we are so grateful for your help.
Life Legal thanks you, our friends and supporters! You make it possible for us to continue defending the defenders of life.
10/28/2015 — Life Legal Fights for David Daleiden as CMP Releases 11th Shocking Video Exposing Planned Parenthood
10/15/2015 — EXPOSED: Planned Parenthood sells dead baby parts on a massive scale
9/17/2015 — National Abortion Federation Ordered to Respond to Emergency Pro-Life Appeal
Please PRAY for Emergency Writ defending David Daleiden’s exposé of Planned Parenthood!
8/25/2015 — 8th video from CMP shows Planned Parenthood partner talking payment, volume, and HOW TO SHIP A HUMAN BRAIN!
8/21/2015 — Truth Prevails—Judge O’Donnell Rules Undercover Videos Can Be Released to the Public!
8/20/2015 — 7th video shows Planned Parenthood will cut brain from LIVING baby!
8/14/2015 — Planned Parenthood sells dead baby parts on a massive scale
8/13/2015 — Sixth CMP Video Shows Baby Parts Sold WITHOUT Mother’s Consent!
8/7/2015 — New CMP Video Released “Intact Fetal Cadavers” At 20 Weeks
8/1/2015 — Fast-Moving Planned Parenthood Scandal Develops in New Directions
7/30/2015 — “Some of Us Don’t Ever Get Over It” — StemExpress / PP tech
7/24/2015 — “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?”*
7/21/2015 — New Undercover Video Shows Second Top Planned Parenthood Doctor Bargaining Over Baby Parts
7/14/2015 — Fact sheets published by Center for Medical Progress (CMP)
7/14/2015 — EXPOSED! Planned Parenthood sells dead baby parts on a massive scale