Pair Behind Debunked Planned Parenthood ‘Baby Parts’ Videos Will Stand Trial
A judge ruled David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt must stand trial to face felony invasion of privacy charges for filming a Planned Parenthood conference in 2015.
Lawrence Bryant/Reuters
The masterminds behind the debunked Planned Parenthood “baby parts” videos are heading to trial. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, who filmed and deceptively edited videos of a Planned Parenthood conference in 2015, were ordered by a California judge on Friday to face felony invasion of privacy charges at a trial starting in January 2020. The judge dismissed five of the other charges against the pair. A separate judge last month ordered Daleiden to pay Planned Parenthood up to $2.2 million in damages, in a lawsuit filed by the healthcare organization in San Francisco. Daleiden’s videos, which he said proved Planned Parenthood was illegally trafficking in fetal tissue, ignited a massive public backlash and resulted in Congressional calls to defund the organization. Planned Parenthood has denied the charge, and the ensuing governmental investigations failed to back it up. Daleiden has defended his efforts as an act of “citizen journalism.”
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