Planned Parenthood has filed a federal lawsuit against the anti-abortion group that released secretly recorded and controversial videos accusing the women's health provider of trafficking fetal tissue.
Planned Parenthood claims anti-abortion activists at the Center for Medical Progress posed as a tissue procurement agency to gain access to closed conferences with its staff in hopes of catching illegal acts on video.
The result was a series of videos allegedly showing staff and doctors discussing the donation of fetal tissue for medical research. The Center for Medical Progress, or CMP, claimed it was evidence the group was "selling baby parts."
The executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said, "They lied about who they were. They lied about what they wanted to discuss with Planned Parenthood. They lied about the federal law governing fetal tissue, and they lied about what Planned Parenthood did. But the truth has come out."
Investigations into the incident didn't uncover any wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood and in fact revealed the videos had been edited to a point of "manipulation." But they sparked some extreme backlash against the organization; government funding for Planned Parenthood remains a divisive issue six months after the first video was released.
On Nov. 27 a gunman killed three people in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, claiming he was a "warrior for the babies." Planned Parenthood directors say many of their staff members have been intimidated and received death threats due to a "smear campaign" the CMP started. (Video via KRDO)
In response to the lawsuit, CMP published a statement on its blog calling the lawsuit a "last-ditch move of desperation." The lawsuit, filed in a San Francisco federal district court, seeks monetary, statutory and punitive damages.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
