In the latest saga of Planned Parenthood vs. David Daleiden and The Center for Medical Progress, a federal judge recently ordered the undercover investigator and his team to pay the abortion business approximately $1.6 million in damages.

David Daleiden and his organization The Center for Medical Progress first came to national attention when Daleiden and his team conducted undercover investigations at Planned Parenthoods in California and Texas, and also participated in industry events where they posed as an organ procurement company. The team was trying to discover if the abortion business was profiting off the sale of preborn remains to medical research facilities.

While it is legal to donate tissue and recoup the cost of transportation and storage, it is illegal to make a profit from it. This is done for ethical reasons. In theory, avoiding profit should dissuade Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics from altering the procedure in order to get a specific specimen or condition, which is entirely illegal.

Daleiden’s investigations not only (allegedly) found evidence of abortionists altering the procedure, but also haggling over the specific prices for various specimens. Ever since the explosive undercover videos first hit the mainstream, Planned Parenthood has utilized every legal maneuver it can to discredit Daleiden’s investigation and extract whatever money it can.

In a recent decision, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered Daleiden and his team to pay Planned Parenthood, the billion-dollar business, almost $1,600,000 in “damages related to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, plus other damages and attorneys’ fees.” This is an extension of the decision against The Center for Medical Progress that occurred in November 2019.

Orrick wrote, “I now find in the plaintiffs’ (Planned Parenthood’s) favor on the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) claim; an abundance of evidence supports it…the illegal and fraudulent prongs of the UCL are satisfied given the jury’s verdict that defendants engaged in numerous illegal and fraudulent acts in California and emanating from California, against California-based plaintiffs and others, committed in violation of California law, federal law, and the laws of other jurisdictions.”

This outcome, though not surprising, is definitely disappointing.

Planned Parenthood has done everything it can to bury the truth and lead a targeted assault against Daleiden and what his team discovered. Bias also played a huge part in the outcome of the initial trial.

In a statement on The Center for Medical Progress website at the conclusion of the initial trial in November 2019, “After a 6-week trial in which the Planned Parenthood-linked judge pre-determined the outcome on key claims, a jury of 10 rubber-stamped Planned Parenthood’s federal civil lawsuit against The Center for Medical Progress over the undercover video series showing senior-level Planned Parenthood leadership discussing the harvest and sale of aborted fetal organs and tissues.”

Daleiden and his team will likely appeal this ruling to a higher court. The Daily Citizen will continue following this story.