Court bars release of videos made by abortion opponents

Associated Press

A federal appeals court on Wednesday barred the release of videos made by an anti-abortion group whose leaders — David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt — are facing felony charges in California accusing them of recording people without permission in violation of state law.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling blocking the recordings made by the Center for Medical Progress at meetings of the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers.

The Center for Medical Progress previously released several secretly recorded videos that it says show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal tissue for profit, which is illegal. Planned Parenthood said the videos were deceptively edited to support false claims. Investigations cleared the organization of the charges, but the reports sparked threats and violence against Planned Parenthood centers.

It’s not clear what’s on the bulk of the recordings made at the abortion federation’s meetings.