{"id":18625,"date":"2016-01-27T09:04:41","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T17:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/two-anti-abortion-activists-accused-of-using-fake-licenses\/"},"modified":"2016-01-27T09:04:41","modified_gmt":"2016-01-27T17:04:41","slug":"two-anti-abortion-activists-accused-of-using-fake-licenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/two-anti-abortion-activists-accused-of-using-fake-licenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Two anti-abortion activists accused of using fake licenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas<\/strong> \u2014 Two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos about Planned Parenthood are accused of using fake driver\u2019s licenses to infiltrate the group, indictments made public Tuesday show.<\/p>\n

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt allegedly used California driver\u2019s licenses they knew were false \u201cwith the intent to defraud and harm another,\u201d the documents indicate.<\/p>\n

The videos that surfaced last year accused Planned Parenthood of illegally selling fetal tissue to researchers for profit. The footage provoked outrage among Republican leaders nationwide and prompted investigations by Republican-led committees in Congress and by GOP-led state governments.<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood officials said the videos were misleading. And the Houston grand jury that indicted the activists also investigated Planned Parenthood and concluded that the nation\u2019s largest abortion provider committed no wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Both of the activists face a charge of tampering with a governmental record, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Daleiden was also indicted on a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. The indictment on that count was not immediately available Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The footage showed people pretending to be from a company called BioMax that procures fetal tissue for research. Planned Parenthood has said that the fake company sent an agreement offering to pay the \u201castronomical amount\u201d of $1,600 for organs from a fetus. The Houston Planned Parenthood clinic said it never entered into the agreement and ceased contact with BioMax because it was \u201cdisturbed\u201d by the overtures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us,\u201d said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson, an elected Republican.<\/p>\n

Daleiden issued a statement saying his group \u201cuses the same undercover techniques\u201d as investigative journalists and follows all applicable laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe respect the processes of the Harris County district attorney and note that buying fetal tissue requires a seller as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood has said a few clinics in two states used to accept legally allowed reimbursement for the costs of providing tissue donated by some of its abortion clients. In October, Planned Parenthood announced that it would no longer accept reimbursement and would cover the costs itself.<\/p>\n

The group called Monday\u2019s indictments the latest in a string of victories since the videos were released, saying 11 state investigations have cleared Planned Parenthood of claims that it profited from fetal tissue donation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is absolutely great news because it is a demonstration of what Planned Parenthood has said from the very beginning: We follow every law and regulation, and these anti-abortion activists broke multiple laws to try and spread lies,\u201d said spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

The Texas video was the fifth released by the Center for Medical Progress, which Daleiden founded.<\/p>\n

Despite the center\u2019s lofty name, public filings suggest only a small number of people are affiliated with the nonprofit, none of whom are scientists or physicians engaged in advancing medical treatments. The people named as its top officers are longtime anti-abortion activists with a history of generating headlines.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood sued the center in a California federal court, alleging extensive criminal misconduct. The lawsuit says the center\u2019s videos were the result of numerous illegalities, including making recordings without consent, registering false identities with state agencies and violating nondisclosure agreements.<\/p>\n

After the lawsuit was filed, Daleiden told The Associated Press he looked forward to confronting Planned Parenthood in court.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Will Weissert in Austin and David Crary in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com\/pauljweber .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos about Planned Parenthood are accused of using fake driver\u2019s licenses to infiltrate the group, indictments made public Tuesday show. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt allegedly used California driver\u2019s licenses they knew were false \u201cwith the intent to defraud and harm another,\u201d the documents indicate. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":18626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-18625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18625"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}