July 26, 2016
A Texas court has dismissed all criminal charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the pro-life activists whose undercover videos exposed Planned Parenthood's involvement in the sale of fetal tissues.
Harris County prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the charges, after Daleiden and Merritt refused plea-bargaining deals. The pro-life activists insist that they acted legally in filming Planned Parenthood employees and associates.
"Today's dismissal in Houston is a huge win for the First Amendment rights of undercover journalists," said Peter Breen, an attorney for the Thomas More Society who had represented Daleiden. "This meritless and retaliatory prosecution should never have been brought.”
Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue and a founding member of the Center for Medical Progress-- the group that organized the undercover-video campaign-- also welcomed the verdict. "These false charges can no longer be used by Planned Parenthood and their cronies as a smokescreen to hide their own criminal conduct," he said.
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