Planned Parenthood
Pushes Bill Penalizing Undercover Journalists For Exposing Corruption
by Dr. Susan Berry 19 Aug 2016
Still scrambling to defend itself against an
undercover exposé that revealed its alleged fetal tissue harvesting practices,
abortion giant Planned Parenthood is now
pushing a bill through the California state legislature that would punish
undercover journalists for publishing and
distributing recordings of private communication with a “health care provider.”
AB 1671, dubbed
the “Planned Parenthood bill,” is on the verge of passage. According to an analysis
of the measure by the State Senate Committee on Appropriations, chaired by
state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens):
AB 1671 would make it an alternate felony-misdemeanor
offense to intentionally distribute, or to aid and abet the distribution of, a
confidential communication with a health care provider that was obtained
unlawfully. This bill would additionally require the fines specified under the
new crime established and the existing offense of unlawfully eavesdropping or
recording a confidential communication to be imposed on a per-violation basis.
The measure would make the publishing and distribution of
videos from undercover journalism operations featuring footage of “health care
providers” a new crime. Journalists who engage in the activity could be
punished with a fine of $2,500 for a first offense and additional offenses
could lead to a prison sentence of up to a year.
As Courthouse News Service (CNS) reports,
the legislation would not exempt whistleblowers from criminalization or civil
lawsuits.
Spearheaded by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles),
the bill comes as Planned Parenthood is desperately attempting to suppress
information regarding its “baby parts” scandal. Last year, undercover
journalists from the Center for Medical Progress released a series of videos
exposing Planned Parenthood’s alleged practices of exchanging the
tissues of babies it aborts for monetary consideration, and altering
the position of babies during abortion in order to maximize the chance of
harvesting intact organs.
Opponents of the bill are concerned about its potential
to violate the First Amendment rights of the press and to obstruct journalists’
job of providing information that is in the best interests of the public. In
the case of Planned Parenthood – which receives over half a billion dollars in
taxpayer funds – it is in the interest of taxpayers to know if their money is
spent on potentially criminal behavior, such as the sale of body parts of
aborted babies for profit.
According to CNS, Planned Parenthood has played a major
role in designing the legislation:
Nikki Moore, legal counsel for the California Newspaper
Publishers Association, said the bill creates a dangerous liability for the
distribution of footage and could unintentionally punish more people than
intended. She said the publishers association has been working with Planned
Parenthood since March to narrow the bill, but that the series of amendments
have not gone far enough.
“The scenario that [Planned Parenthood] is trying to
prevent is a very specific one,” Moore said. “We’ve been trying to help them
find a way to accomplish their goals while not infringing on the First
Amendment or creating liabilities for media.”
Despite the fact that laws exist already in California to
protect private conversations, Planned Parenthood is pushing for punitive
action against third parties for spreading “confidential communication.”
Beth Parker, chief legal counsel for Planned Parenthood
Affiliates of California, said the bill would prevent undercover journalists
from spreading their secretly recorded information on the internet.
“Since the smear campaign began last summer, Planned
Parenthood health centers have seen a 900 percent increase in threats and
violence,” Kathy Kneer, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of
California, said in a statement. “That’s why it’s so important to pass AB 1671
— to protect the constitutional privacy rights and the safety of health
providers.”
Though the ACLU often supports Planned Parenthood, in
this case the civil liberties group is strongly opposed to the measure, citing
its “potential for real harm,” and arguing the legislation is unconstitutional.
“The same rationale for punishing communications of some preferred
professions or industries could as easily be applied to other communications
[such as] law enforcement, animal testing labs, gun makers, lethal injection
drug producers, the petroleum industry and religious sects,” ACLU legislative
director Kevin Baker wrote in a letter to Gomez, reports CNS.
Both a publishers’ lobbying group and the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) are also opposed to the extreme language contained in
the bill, CNS reports.
Since the release of the Planned Parenthood baby parts
video series that stunned the nation, the organization has been attempting to
suppress further exposure and seeking cover from
its media
and political allies,
especially Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a longtime “friend”
of the group. Planned Parenthood is spending $20 million to help elect Clinton,
and has recently announced that it is registering people to vote
at all of its clinics, on college campuses, and online as well.
Soon after the release of the video series, Harris
County, Texas District Attorney Devon Anderson convened a grand jury – under
suspicion of bias – that cleared
Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing in the exposé and, instead, indicted CMP
project lead David Daleiden and his colleague Sandra Merritt.
Reacting to the indictment of Daleiden and Merritt, two
pro-choice law professors wrote that the action amounted to “a stunning act of legal
jujitsu” and was a “deeply disturbing” outcome both for the First
Amendment and undercover citizen journalists attempting to expose corruption.
Subsequently, a judge dismissed all charges against
Daleiden, though many media outlets hardly reported
that news at all.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats – whose party now fully embraces
abortion-on-demand – have attempted to suppress any further release of damning
information about Planned Parenthood’s practices by demanding a
complete shutdown of an ongoing congressional investigation.
While Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing, its
president, Cecile
Richards also released a statement last October announcing it will
no longer accept payments for aborted fetal tissue. The narrative put forward
at that point was that the videos produced by CMP were “deceptively edited.”
Nevertheless, a Democrat opposition research firm named
Fusion, hired by Planned Parenthood itself to review the videos, said
that while its staff observed the videos had been edited – as most videos
are – “the analysis did not reveal widespread evidence of substantive video
manipulation.”
Additionally, Fusion noted, “[A]nalysts found no evidence
that CMP inserted dialogue not spoken by Planned Parenthood staff.”
An analysis by Coalfire, a third-party forensics company
hired by Alliance Defending Freedom, found
that the videos were “not manipulated” and that they are “authentic.”
Still another attempt to keep further information about
the video exposé under wraps occurred just two weeks ago when Planned
Parenthood filed a lawsuit against the
University of Washington in federal court to block the school from revealing
information about the organization’s involvement in its fetal parts research
program.
The California Senate Appropriations Committee analysis
of the “Planned Parenthood bill” shows considerable concern about the measure.
“Consequently, to the extent this measure contains
language that could be challenged as unconstitutional, this bill could result
in potentially significant costs associated with litigation, both to the court
and to the Attorney General,” the analysis states.
As CNS reports, the state’s Department of Finance also
testified in opposition to the legislation, emphasizing the impact on the
justice system derived from the “significant costs associated with litigation”
if the bill were to become law. Additionally, the department observed the
highly specific nature of a measure – geared closely to the needs of Planned
Parenthood – that would also produce such negative impact. “Health care
providers,” the department noted, after all, are very infrequently the target
of such undercover exposés.
Assemblyman Gomez, however, insists his bill “closes a
loophole.”
On May 31, the Assembly passed the bill at a floor vote,
52-26. The state Senate will vote on the bill at the end of August.
Planned Parenthood
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Human Rights Watch.
Note: George Soros is the
founder & chairman for the Open
Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group, Jonathan
Soros’s father, was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Sheila Coronel is
a board member for the International
Crisis Group, a director for the Committee
to Protect Journalists, an overseer for the Columbia Journalism Review, a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and a director at the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the International Rescue Committee, the New America Foundation, the Robin Hood
Foundation, the Roosevelt Institute,
the Climate Reality Project, and the
Sundance Institute.
Kati
Marton was a director at the Human
Rights Watch, is a director at the New
America Foundation, an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, and a director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Tom
Brokaw is an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, an advisory board member for the Committee to Protect Journalists, and was a director at the Robin Hood Foundation.
Diane Sawyer was a
director at the Robin Hood Foundation,
and is a director at the Committee to
Protect Journalists.
Brian Williams is
a director at the Robin Hood Foundation,
and an advisory board member for
the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Jonathan Soros is
George Soros’s son, a director at
the New America Foundation, and a senior
fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.
Steven L.
Isenberg was a governor at the Roosevelt
Institute, and is an advisory board member for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Mhamed Krichen
is a director at the Committee to
Protect Journalists, and an anchor at Al
Jazeera.
David Marash is
an advisory board member for the Committee
to Protect Journalists, and was a Washington anchor for Al Jazeera.
Syrian
Electronic Army reportedly hacked Al
Jazeera, and the Human Rights Watch.
Bashar al-Assad
is hacker supporting the Syrian
Electronic Army, the president of Syria,
and permitted the rise in Syria of
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIS).
Kati
Marton was a director at the Human
Rights Watch, is a director at the New
America Foundation, an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, and a director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Sheila Coronel
is a director for the Committee to
Protect Journalists, a board member for the International Crisis Group, an overseer for the Columbia Journalism Review, a professor
at the Columbia Graduate School of
Journalism, and a director at the Stabile
Center for Investigative Journalism.
Albert A. Gore Jr.
sued Al Jazeera, was the co-founder & chairman for Current Media, LLC, and is the chairman
for the Climate Reality Project.
Current TV is a
division of the Current Media, LLC.
Al Jazeera
acquired Current TV.
Patricia E.
Mitchell was a director at the Human
Rights Watch, the president of CNN
Productions, an executive in charge of original productions for the Turner Broadcasting System Inc., and is
the vice chair for the Sundance
Institute.
Ted
Turner is the founder of CNN,
the founder of the Turner Broadcasting
System Inc., and chairman for the Turner
Foundation.
Cecile Richards
was a grant overseer for the Turner
Foundation, and is the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Barbra
Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Human Rights Watch.
Kati
Marton was a director at the Human
Rights Watch, is a director at the New
America Foundation, an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, and a director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Sheila Coronel
is a director for the Committee to
Protect Journalists, a board member for the International Crisis Group, an overseer for the Columbia Journalism Review, a professor
at the Columbia Graduate School of
Journalism, and a director at the Stabile
Center for Investigative Journalism.
Stabile
Center for Investigative Journalism is a center at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
Steve
Coll is the dean at the Columbia
Graduate School of Journalism, and global board member for the Open Society Foundations, and was the president
& CEO for the New America Foundation.
Jonathan Soros is
a global board member for
the Open Society Foundations, a
director at the New America Foundation,
a senior fellow at the Roosevelt
Institute, and George Soros’s
son.
Kati
Marton is a director at the New
America Foundation, an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, a director at the Committee
to Protect Journalists, and was a director at the Human Rights Watch.
Steven L.
Isenberg was a governor at the Roosevelt
Institute, and is an advisory board member for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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