Contact: Alexandra Snyder, Life Legal Defense Foundation, 202-717-7371
NAPA, Calif., May 6, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- On May 5, Life Legal filed an "anti-SLAPP" motion in the case of Planned Parenthood v. The Center for Medical Progress and David Daleiden, et al. A "SLAPP," or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, is a lawsuit designed to chill speech by inflicting the expense and burden of litigation on the defending party. California law prohibits these types of lawsuits, as they violate the First Amendment.
In this case, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit for the sole purpose of silencing and punishing David for gathering information about Planned Parenthood's sale of fetal body parts and then publishing his findings. The Center for Medical Progress published a series of videos proving Planned Parenthood's practice of collaborating with fetal specimen brokers to secure payment and other valuable consideration, including disposal services, for the bodies of aborted babies. Planned Parenthood wants to punish David and his fellow investigators with crushing damages and attorney fee awards.
California's anti-SLAPP law specifically protects free speech in connection with "an issue of public interest." Planned Parenthood is a taxpayer-funded organization that holds itself out as a provider of free or reduced cost services for women. The public has a right to know what kinds of business practices Planned Parenthood is engaged in, especially when those practices are illegal.
Life Legal's motion includes evidence of payment structures used between Planned Parenthood and fetal specimen brokers to compensate abortion clinics for supplying fetal body parts. Brokers such as StemExpress solicit the participation of Planned Parenthood's clinics by offering to make the transactions "financially profitable."
"There is no question that Planned Parenthood is involved in the sale of aborted babies to fetal tissue brokers," says Life Legal Defense Foundation's Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. "The only reason for the lawsuit is to punish David Daleiden for exposing its practices and to deter others from taking on the abortion giant."
Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org.
