{"id":120700,"date":"2016-01-25T18:18:47","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T01:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=120700"},"modified":"2016-01-26T08:00:21","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T15:00:21","slug":"grand-jury-indicts-abortion-foes-behind-undercover-videos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/01\/grand-jury-indicts-abortion-foes-behind-undercover-videos\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand jury indicts abortion foes behind undercover videos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Harris County grand jury on Monday indicted the videographers behind undercover recordings of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston and cleared\u00a0the women&#8217;s health provider of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_120702\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-120702\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PlannedParenthood_jpg_800x1000_q100-336x223.jpg\" alt=\"Planned Parenthood\" width=\"336\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PlannedParenthood_jpg_800x1000_q100-336x223.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PlannedParenthood_jpg_800x1000_q100-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PlannedParenthood_jpg_800x1000_q100-771x512.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PlannedParenthood_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Jacob Villanueva \/ The Texas Tribune<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast of wrongdoing\u00a0but charged\u00a0the videographers behind undercover recordings made at a clinic in Houston.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The indictments \u2014 part of the county prosecutor&#8217;s investigation into allegations that Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue \u2014 include charges against anti-abortion activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt for tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>The grand jury handed down a second charge for Daleiden for \u201cProhibition of the Purchase and Sale of Human Organs,&#8221; according to the Harris County District Attorney&#8217;s office.\u00a0That charge is a class A misdemeanor that carries a punishment of up to a year in jail.<\/p>\n<p>The grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston of breaking any laws.<\/p>\n<p>State Republican leaders last year pushed for investigations into Planned Parenthood after videos were released depicting Planned Parenthood officials across the nation discussing how their providers obtain fetal tissue for medical research.<\/p>\n<p>Among the undercover videos were <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2015\/07\/27\/anti-abortion-group-visited-planned-parenthood-hou\/\" target=\"_blank\">recordings of staff<\/a> at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, where two abortion foes in April misrepresented themselves as research executives and provided fake California drivers\u2019 licenses.\u00a0The videographers visited the facility last April\u00a0\u201cunder the guise of discussing tissue research with our clinic research staff,\u201d\u00a0according to\u00a0Planned Parenthood.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/01\/25\/grand-jury-indicts-abortion-foes-behind-undercover\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The two people who visited the Houston facility \u2014 including a center where abortions are performed \u2014\u00a0identified themselves as\u00a0executives with Biomax Procurement Services,\u00a0a shell company created by Daleiden&#8217;s Center for Medical Progress.<\/p>\n<p>The undercover video, released in August, shows the two videographers and Planned Parenthood staff discussing the administrative costs of\u00a0harvesting fetal organs at various stages of gestation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe people behind this fraud lied and broke the law in order to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda,\u201d said Melaney Linton, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.\u00a0\u201cAs the dust settles and the truth comes out, it&#8217;s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we&#8217;re glad they are being held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A request for comment from the Center for Medical Progress was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n<p>Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson launched a criminal investigation into Planned Parenthood in August at the urging of state leaders, including Republican Lt. Gov. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/dan-patrick\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dan Patrick<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,\u201d Anderson said in a statement. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Despite the grand jury&#8217;s indictments, Republican Gov. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/greg-abbott\/\" target=\"_blank\">Greg Abbott<\/a>\u00a0said the state would move forward with its investigations of Planned Parenthood, including inquiries by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Texas Attorney General\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/ken-paxton\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ken Paxton<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing about today\u2019s announcement in Harris County impacts the state\u2019s ongoing investigation,&#8221; Abbott said in statement. &#8220;The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement confirming the ongoing investigation, Paxton said, \u201cThe fact remains that the videos exposed the horrific nature of abortion and the shameful disregard for human life of the abortion industry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The sale of fetal tissue is already illegal.\u00a0But if a patient consents, abortion clinics\u00a0may donate fetal tissue for use in medical research.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oir.nih.gov\/sourcebook\/ethical-conduct\/research-ethics\/fetal-tissue-research\/statutes-governing-human-fetal-tissue-research\" target=\"_blank\">Federal law allows<\/a>\u00a0clinics to be reimbursed for costs \u201cassociated with the transportation, implantation, processing preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue\u201d for research purposes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas do not currently donate tissue for medical research, according to the organization. Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston participated in fetal tissue donation in 2010 when it partnered with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston for a study on causes of miscarriages.<\/p>\n<p>State Republican leaders also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2015\/10\/19\/texas-kick-planned-parenthood-out-medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\">cited the video<\/a> in their efforts to boot Planned Parenthood from the state Medicaid program over what they called &#8220;acts of misconduct.&#8221; Planned Parenthood officials in November responded with a federal lawsuit seeking to block Texas&#8217; efforts. The organization is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2015\/12\/12\/past-efforts-cast-doubt-states-fight-planned-paren\/\" target=\"_blank\">still receiving federal and state funds<\/a> through the program.<\/p>\n<p><em style=\"line-height: 1.35;\">Disclosure: Planned Parenthood was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2011. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was a corporate sponsor of the Tribune in 2012. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/support-us\/donors-and-members\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Texas grand jury on Monday indicted the videographers behind undercover recordings of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston and cleared the clinic of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[241,142,2260],"class_list":["post-120700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-abortion","tag-crime","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}