Pro-Life Journalist Charged With Purchase And Sale Of Human Organs
[guest post by Dana]
Planned Parenthood baby killers clap their hands in glee as a pro-life activist working to save the lives of both the unborn and born-alive is indicted.
Months after the release of undercover videos detailing Planned Parenthood’s scheme to traffic aborted baby body parts, a grand jury has finally brought brought criminal charges. Not against Planned Parenthood, but against David Daleiden, the pro-life activist behind the undercover sting videos.
A grand jury in Harris County, Texas, returned two charges on Monday afternoon against Daleiden, the activist who planned and organized the undercover sting videos. Although the grand jury allegedly investigated Planned Parenthood, no charges were brought against the nation’s largest abortion provider, whose executives were shown in multiple videos attempting to sell trafficked organs and other body parts harvested from aborted babies. One Planned Parenthood executive, while haggling over the prices of aborted baby organs, noted that she needed to get the right price because, “I want to buy a Lamborghini.”
Here are the charges:
Daleiden was charged with the purchase and sale of human organs, a misdemeanor, and with tampering with a governmental record, a felony. Sandra Merritt, one of Daleiden’s associates, was also charged with tampering with a governmental record.
Is the lesson here that it’s okay to sell baby body parts, but it’s not okay to act like you’re going to buy them?? Because that’s what I’m getting from this.
And then there is this:
Lauren Reeder, one of the prosecutors in the Harris County district attorney’s office, revealed last August that she was a member of the board of directors for the Planned Parenthood affiliate that was targeted by Daleiden.
Reeder’s LinkedIn page indicates that she has been a Planned Parenthood board member since 2013 and a fundraiser for the abortion provider since 2009
–Dana
Sadly.
Dana (86e864) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:29 amBetween this and Travis county charging the governor over a veto threat I dont get what’s going on with Texas. How can one of the most conservative states spawn such idiotic local law enforcement? Are there any other no go zones I should be aware of if I travel to Texas?
allenlou (3857c2) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:34 amI hear there’s some Kiowa trouble in the Panhandle.
nk (dbc370) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:45 amThe big cities — Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio — are run by Democrats, although the suburbs are typically Republican.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:52 amDana, I am glad you posted this, but I shudder at some of the upcoming comments. It must be frustrating.
Simon Jester (2708f4) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:53 amMakes a mockery of justice. Texas Proud.
Colonel Haiku (5243a2) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:56 amthey’re entitled to a jury of their peers and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty
this is obvious to anyone who is willing to do the analysis
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:58 amThe big cities — Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio — are run by Democrats, although the suburbs are typically Republican.
it was a Republican prosecutor what helped discover the alleged crimes i think
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:59 amThis is revenge under color of law. The prosecution itself is a crime.
ropelight (70f603) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:01 amYet another example that leftists have zero integrity and there is no limit to the level a leftist will sink in order to crush any opposition. Compare the outrage from the liberal media when that Kansas prosecutor went after the butcher Tiller, but not a peep about conflict of interest in Houston when a prosecutor is on the freaking board of directors of Sanger’s Eugenicist Butchery Company that is being investigated.
Travesty of justice does not come close to describing this blatant leftist scam.
Pete (ad7997) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:02 amWhy Lawyers are scum example #4,967,876.
Yes, Ropelight, the prosecution itself is a crime but there will be no consequences.
One day the guillotines will come back and it will be glorious days
But why is anyone shocked — they indicted the Governor for governing.
The Left does not have rules, never have.
Rodney King's Spirit (3adc86) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:08 amIs there any wonder why people do not trust the government? Imagine what life would be like if they got all our guns.
jim (32b921) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:09 am#4
All the countywide positions are solid democrats in Dallas County (with the exception of the Dallas County DA who was a democrat and who is currently going through severe mental/nervous breakdown – ie hawkins)
#8
Happyfeet – do you have any info on this?
Joe - Texas (debac0) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:12 amit looks like all the evidence is pointing to a Republican District Attorney as being a lot responsible for announcing the indictments in a statement
her name is Devon Anderson and she was appointed by Rick Perry, who used to be the governor of Texas
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:12 amThat sort of leftist justice has an unfortunate remedy: A tall tree and a short rope.
Bar Sinister (c62a89) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:14 amif you ask me i think this is inarguably way better for the Center for Medical Progress’s propaganda efforts than it would’ve been had there been no indictments at all
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:15 amFollow the money. Who bought the ham, bread and mustard?
Colonel Haiku (5243a2) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:17 amI kept telling all my clients, “Never commit murder without political protection and guarantee of profit”. I guess Planned Parenthood’s lawyers told them the say thing, and they listened. Why is anyone surprised at this? That the political establishment, including prosecutors, would be protecting Planned Parenthood. Was Planned Parenthood funded or not funded by the GOP Congress? Well?
nk (dbc370) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:21 amAssuming this goes to a jury –
What are the odds of being able to exclude every pro-life juror?
What are the odds that with just one pro-life juror, that there will be jury nullification?
Who as a pro-life individual is going to find someone guilty of using a “fake state issued drivers license” to expose the illegal activity of A) selling human body parts and B) murder ie the killing of partially born babies so that the intact human body parts could be sold intact?
So even if the individual is guilty of using a fake ID, who is going to find him guilty?
Joe - Texas (debac0) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:21 amThe “tampering witha government record” which carries with it a possible 20-year sentence, s creating a fake ID and maybe some other fake things, which I am not sure of, but it sounds like it has something to do with creating a fake corporation.
The purchase and sale of human organs is a minor charge. Nothing like faking a driver’s license.
(sarc)
Now nobody actually bought or sold any human organs here.
Although very few details on the substance of the charges were released, the logical assumption I would come to would be that Planned Parenthood was cleared because they consistently said they were not selling body parts, but only charging for what is called, in other contexts, “shipping and handling.”
Expenses, that is, calculated no doubt using Hollywood-style movie-profits accounting. While the activists, on the other hand, had made a blatant offer of a legal agreement to buy body
parts. The offer itself is illegal. Planned Parenthood never agreed to that, but invariably insisted, like their lawyers told them, on saying they could only charge for expenses, and they could not sell them.
Moral? Before doing anything that resembles a sting operation, hire a good lawyer, especially if your target has good lawyers. Be especially wary if they also have lobbyists and have political influence. They can get you indicted. And only law enforcement officials can make offers to commit crimes without penalty.
This whole indictment is designed to make a repeat of this sting operation impossible. Any offer tp traffic in baby parts that acknowledges a law is being broken, rather than a loophole used, is itself illegal.
Sammy Finkelman (dbec95) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:29 amThe media Joe, or haven’t you been paying attention?
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:32 amThe activists also claimed to be in that business, meaning the offer was intended to be taken seriously, so, by their own testimony, they could be guilty. Planned Parenthood, which insisted they were NOT selling body parts, is not.
Sammy Finkelman (dbec95) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:32 amIs that the “tampering with a government record” charge? Fake driver’s license? There’s a good chance that the judge will dismiss that out, then, as a question of law. Unless CMP went into the DMV’s computer and falsified the information there.
But let this be a warning to teenagers looking to buy beer and cigarettes in Houston.
nk (dbc370) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:36 amHow can one of the most conservative states spawn such idiotic local law enforcement?
Considering the well-known observation that if people don’t want a fight to break out at a family gathering, it’s best to avoid talking about religion and politics, I don’t know why you should be surprised that such contemptible, corrupt actions are emanating from a grand jury, whether in Texas or anywhere else. After all, the notion about family get-togethers applies to every part of the US and to just about every family out there.
However, I’m assuming there no groups of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, mother-in-laws, brother-in-laws, etc, that are solidly, uniformly conservative—not to mention, as this website has shown recently, people of generally the same political persuasion fighting it out very harshly with one another. Quite simply, lurking out there — all around us — and apparently embedded in anyone of us, are the corrupting biases of liberalism (and, in certain instances too, country-club conservatism), best illustrated by the DA in Harris County being a Republican—although I bet he’s an urban-squish-squish Republican.
Mark (f713e4) — 1/26/2016 @ 7:48 amDA Anderson resisted calls for a special prosecutor.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/26/2016 @ 8:17 amthere’s no conflict of interest really is there?
and if i were these indicted people i’d be careful what i wished for
i wonder what it’s like to be indicted
it must be awful
the shame and embarrassment of it must be almost all-consuming I think
i think it goes down on your permanent record
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 8:20 amDevon Anderson is a Republican, but I do not think she was the one that actually ran that Grand Jury. I do not however know just how conservative of a republican she is, there has been rumor circulating that she isn’t as terribly conservative as some would think.
Rorschach (6fc5f7) — 1/26/2016 @ 8:20 amDemocrats have dominated Harris County when Obama is on the ticket, but they don’t always show up in off years. Republicans are lucky to get elected and they know it.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/26/2016 @ 8:23 amTypical corruption at all levels of government. The only potentially good thing about this is that Daleiden will be able to use discovery for his defense which includes Planned Infanticide’s procedures unless the court unreasonably narrows the scope of his defense.
NJRob (a07d2e) — 1/26/2016 @ 9:03 amoh what tangled webs we weave
well not me
but these guys oh boy
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 9:09 am# 20
Sorry – didnt finish the sentence – i meant to say “how many pro-lifer’s are going to find him guilty of using a fake id to expose another crime?”
Joe - Texas (debac0) — 1/26/2016 @ 9:22 amIn other news, subpoenas have been issued for the arrest of every undercover DEA agent in America.
CrustyB (69f730) — 1/26/2016 @ 9:52 amdiscovery should be very interesting and productive…
PP may end up wishing they had never arranged this miscarriage of justice.
redc1c4 (076907) — 1/26/2016 @ 10:06 amI thought it might be useful to give a pro-choice person’s take on all this (mine);
I flat out cannot see how the defendants can be guilty of the organ-trafficking charge and PP isn’t.
However, on the felony charge (tampering with government records) I think they *might* have a case, if indeed the defendants did falsify records to obtain a business license, etc.
My impression at the moment; Texas has a systemic problem with grand juries creating miscarriages of justice. I can’t stand Rick Perry, but I was appalled when he was indicted for, literally, doing his job as governor.
Arizona CJ (da673d) — 1/26/2016 @ 11:20 amSomehow this story doesn’t make sense, and no one is explaining it.
My guess is this. The video makers faked some documents to make themselves look legit for the undercover video. What they filmed actually happened, but what is getting left out is that it is perfectly legal for planned parenthood to sell human body parts, what was illegal was for the video makers to attempt to buy them without the appropriate government licensing (the documents they faked). They never received any body parts.
The reason no one is explaining this is because the legal right for Planned Parenthood to sell human body parts is something no one wants you to know about.
Eramus (2cd2ac) — 1/26/2016 @ 11:35 ampay backs a bitch!
xexe (a967f2) — 1/26/2016 @ 11:58 amtsetse is ore like it
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/26/2016 @ 12:01 pmIt’s like electing Obama.
It’s very bad, and should never have happened. It’s going to do damage.
But the backlash is going to be one heck of a thing.
scrubone (c3104f) — 1/26/2016 @ 12:05 pmOur local news station (KFBK Sacramento) has slipped Planned Parenthood propaganda terms into its reporting on this story. “Heavily edited videos” “smear campaign”
David (099e1f) — 1/26/2016 @ 12:43 pmRage against the matriarchy (“Mother Nature”).
We live in a post-normal (i.e. regressive or negative progressive) world. Before normalization of elective abortion and clinical cannibalism of human life, these reporters would have been recognized as whistleblowers, and for meritorious achievement in advancing human rights. Sadly, in liberal societies, the female chauvinists have demanded and established a religious/moral philosophy (i.e. pro-choice doctrine or selective principles) that adopts the fantasy of spontaneous conception, and embraces the “final solution” and resumption of abortion rites for wealth, pleasure, and leisure.
That said, The Theory of Evolution is in practice a minority theory. The dodos have voluntarily established a dysfunctional dynasty to serve their elite masters. The surviving boys and girls should be concerned that the consequences of debasing human life are not limited to the “clumps of cells” in Planned Parenthood offices.
n.n (2c07ae) — 1/26/2016 @ 12:43 pmAs a pro-life individual, it is good to see some on the otherside with a coherent and rational response
Joe from Texas (debac0) — 1/26/2016 @ 12:51 pmI wonder how many people sincerely believe in the theory of spontaneous human conception.
Yeah, discovery and exposure of the “final solution” marked the turning point of WW II on both the Western and Eastern fronts. The privacy was shattered and human consequences of planning and cannibalism could no longer be denied nor tolerated.
n.n (2c07ae) — 1/26/2016 @ 12:57 pmThe issue is not elective abortion or its progress to organ trafficking per se… Well, it is the progressive slope (i.e. monotonic change). But rather the answer to when and by whose choice does a human life acquire and retain value?
The pro-choice quasi-religion established, among other things, that a human life has variable or selective value. Whether it is denigration of individual dignity, debasement of human life, or corruption of science, the consequences are not limited to the individuals committing the violations or their direct victims. Mother Nature does not favor a liberal perspective or interpretation of her rules.
n.n (2c07ae) — 1/26/2016 @ 1:09 pmplead guilty and become a prisoner of conscious.
Wait…
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/26/2016 @ 2:39 pmthey have air conditioning in the jail? (It’s Texas)
it’s just so ironic
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/26/2016 @ 2:49 pmRIP Abe Vigoda. Just watched him in the extended Godfather Epicon HBO over the weekend and remarked to my wife, man I think that sonuvagun is still alive.
Colonel Haiku (df3a15) — 1/26/2016 @ 3:09 pmBarney Miller; Hash Brownie episode
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/26/2016 @ 3:19 pmWhen Ted becomes president he can pardon them.
mg (31009b) — 1/26/2016 @ 3:46 pmDana – The Onion surrendered.
JD (34f761) — 1/26/2016 @ 3:49 pmUm, no, he can’t.
Milhouse (87c499) — 1/26/2016 @ 4:16 pmWhen Ted becomes president he can pardon them.
No he couldn’t. Those are state charges, not federal ones.
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 1/26/2016 @ 4:37 pmBut the governor of Texas sure can.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/26/2016 @ 5:49 pmAs I remember from when the Shrub was governor, Texas governors do not have plenary clemency authority. They can grant pardons and commutations only upon the recommendation of a majority of the Parole and Pardon Board (and even the Board’s authority is limited in capital cases to commutation to natural life, although that’s not applicable here). Texas is a law and order state.
nk (dbc370) — 1/26/2016 @ 5:57 pmAnd don’t discount the politics. This may be as much a stratagem to embarrass to compromise Abbot as the Perry indictment is.
nk (dbc370) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:01 pmUm, yes he can.
mg (31009b) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:07 pmthese shoes rule
these shoes suck
happyfeet (831175) — 1/26/2016 @ 6:08 pmYou would have to be completely and utterly retarded, to no recognize what is going on.
It’s hilarious, and it will backfire.
Seriously, many of you ARE completely and utterly retarded, so NO OFFENSE intended.
Selling baby parts. Getting HALF A BILLION in FEDERAL FUNDING. DISCUSS.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/26/2016 @ 9:15 pmBut but but, you bought us salad and wine and steak, and errrr ummm uhhhh, errr you wanted to buy DEAD BABY PARTS!!!! You are bad bad people. I would NEVER sell you baby parts, unless you made me drink WINE first.
A WAR IS COMING FOLKS. Libs, I suggest you arm yourselves.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/26/2016 @ 9:18 pmNo, he can’t. Facts are facts. It should be obvious that the president of the USA can’t pardon anyone for crimes against the state of Texas. And as nk correctly pointed out, not even the governor of Texas can pardon anyone for such crimes without the say-so of an independent Pardons and Paroles board.
Milhouse (87c499) — 1/26/2016 @ 10:32 pmSo, more lawfare from Texas Democrats against high profile conservatives? WTH?
Lauren Reeder, one of the prosecutors in the Harris County district attorney’s office, revealed last August that she was a member of the board of directors for the Planned Parenthood affiliate that was targeted by Daleiden.
Brad (74d84e) — 1/27/2016 @ 12:44 amReeder’s LinkedIn page indicates that she has been a Planned Parenthood board member since 2013 and a fundraiser for the abortion provider since 2009
How is this ethical? Are not there other prosecutors who are not related to one of the parties?
Loren (66de82) — 1/27/2016 @ 8:44 amWhile Tejas is a h3ll of a lot better than kali in most respects it isn’t like the politics, and consequently the justice, is exactly clean.
Starting with the politics, Joe Straus is the Speaker of the Texas House. And the only reason he’s the speaker is because 11 turncoat RINOs (we all know the type) joined with 65 Democrats to oust the previous speaker, Craddick, in 2009. So while nominally a Republican he’s beholden to the Democrats for his job.
Why do the Democrats support Straus? Because in 2005 he received a 100% rating from NARAL. To be fair he’s not as reliably liberal on other issues dear to the Democrats, but he’s the best the Democrats are going to get out of the Republican field. So despite big TEA party gains he’s held onto the job because of an alliance of turncoat RINOs and Democrats.
As far as the DA in Harris county, he’s a Republican. But what stripe of Republican? A Chuck Schumer “Gang of Eight” (“Are our Republicans ready?”) pet Republican? A Joe Straus Republican?
Recall that this is the state that charged Rick Perry of the crime of legitimately exercising one of the powers and responsibilities of his office. But in a way the Democrats didn’t like. And, yes, I know the prosecutor is a Republican, but as Joe Straus and Marco Rubio demonstrate the Democrats can always find a Republican to play along.
It’s also the state that filed a bogus criminal case against Tom Delay. If I remember correctly, they charged him with the crime of violating a law that didn’t yet exist when he committed the act in question. It was eventually laughed out of court, but not until after years of litigation and it ruined his political career.
Which was the entire point.
So it’s very hard for me to take these charges seriously. For two reasons. It take a buyer and a seller to have the possibility of a transaction. The film makers clearly didn’t want to traffic in organs. But PP does. So they ignore the seller part of the transaction, the ones who actually do procure and sell the baby parts? This prosecution is taking the ludicrous position that PP was the entity running the sting, to expose illegal buyers of THEIR baby parts.
Then there’s the falsification of a government document. I would take that seriously if every illegal alien in this state was charged with the same crime. As Mark Steyn is fond of pointing out illigal aliens are not undocumented. They’ve got tons of documents, and it’s all fake.
Every time an illegal alien fills out an I9 form and are successfully hired they commit two felonies; perjury and document fraud. Both are 5 year felonies. Yet they are never charged.
Recall when Meg Whitman caught all kinds of crap when it turned out she hired an illegal alien as a domestic. They got a no match letter from the SSA; the name on the fake SS card the illegal used to get hired didn’t match the SSN.
The long and the short of it is that Whitman followed the law. I forget the name of the law, but the amnesty passed under Reagan (and amended since) really ties the hands of employers. If the documents the applicant presents to you look genuine you must accept them. And if you ask for more than whatever documents meet the legal minimum the DoJ can and will come down on you like a ton of bricks for being “overzealous.”
But the domestic had not followed the law. Instead she had the bright idea of hiring Gloria Allred and was all over TV complaining about being exploited. But by doing so she handed the DoJ a case on a platter. You can’t get more “out of the shadows” than that. And the no-match letter proved beyond a shadow of a doubt she had committed two felonies when she applied for a job. But the relevant one is, she used a fake SSN card to get that job.
It turns out that in Texas what this domestic did is also a state felony.
Yet, they’re never charged. Because it’s political. La Raza et al would be up in arms if law enforcement, you know, enforced the law. But if we enforced these laws we wouldn’t have an illegal alien problem.
So I’ll take the “altering a government document” charge seriously when they do. In the meantime I have to view the enforcement of it in this case in the same way I view the non-enforcement of it in millions of other cases in the same light. It’s purely political.
O/T, if you really want to put the screws to Mozilla, Brendan Eich is coming out with his own browser and it looks awesome.
https://brave.com/
Steve57 (f61b03) — 1/27/2016 @ 9:47 amwhy in the world would they deal in human organs? for instance if one dies of an accident maybe the parts would be used to save another life but not aborted babies parts because we may have no reason as they the abortion might have taken
dr John (404778) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:09 pmhow do you think richardson avoided indictment, because he was innocent, surely not,
narciso (732bc0) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:11 pmSimpson/Mazzoli, one of those cunning cunning plans,
narciso (732bc0) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:22 pmHey,
MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:51 pmThat is very interesting, Steve 57 about Eich,
But from what I can tell they are still developing it, right?
It sounds like an idea I had…
Not that I would have had the first clue how to do it or the capital to finance it.