Lawyer: ‘Runaway grand jury’ indicted abortion foes

As with all the other state and federal investigations resulting from the videos to date, however, the Texas grand jury could find no evidence that Planned Parenthood had broken any laws-and in a surprising twist, Daleiden and Merritt were indicted instead. The state legislature had already succeeded in restricting access to clinics that provided abortion, leaving the state with just 19 clinics to service the entire state. Center head David R. Daleiden was also charged with a misdemeanor count related to offering to buy human tissue.

Devon Anderson’s office, who is a Harris County District Attorney, initiated the investigation to look into Planned Parenthood after the videos were released.

David Daleiden and Sandra Merrit are from the pro-life Center for Medical Progress.

House Democrats are pushing Gov. Gary Herbert to drop his attempts to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, following the indictment of the leader of a group that created highly edited undercover videos that alleged to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue.

Eliminate and criminalize any sale or transaction of fetal tissue by an abortion clinic for any goal whatsoever.

Laura McQuade, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas Mid-Missouri, accused the governor of knowingly making false statements regarding Planned Parenthood in his State of the State address. Sullenger also claims that part of the bias is due to the face that Troy Newman, the activist behind the 2013 allegations against Karpen, is also a founding member of CMP. For example, defense attorneys have argued that charging both Daleiden and Merritt with a felony for using fake driver’s licenses is too extreme, because young people caught with fake ids often receive a misdemeanor charge.

According to The Seattle Times, Republican State Senator Max Wise, who wrote Kentucky’s bill, criticized the grand jury’s decision and stated that the bill would protect the state from the “cold-hearted trading of body parts for money”.

At a news conference Wednesday, their lawyers said they intend to ask the Harris County district attorney to drop the case.

After the indictments this week, Lt. Governor Patrick released a statement saying, “The horrific nature of these videos demand scrutiny and investigation”.

“I made the argument regarding the charges that the grand jury returned”, Schaffer said in the interview, “but I did not have to make them very forcefully because it was self-evident to the prosecutors that they engaged in this conduct”. However, in Texas grand juries can bring other charges if the evidence presented shows that criminal wrongdoing occurred, even if it is not the focus.

It’s probably unlikely that the two activists will serve the full 20 years in jail if found guilty, but Monday’s indictments alone could mean a big change in public sentiment towards the organization, which continues to provide vital healthcare services to women.

“I think they need to stop trafficking in baby body parts”, he said Wednesday about Planned Parenthood. Bond for Daleiden and Merritt was set at $11,000 and $10,000, respectively.