The maker of videos investigating Planned Parenthood’s supplying of aborted fetal tissue says he has evidence showing that despite what abortion clinics say, they’re able to comply with new Texas regulations the Supreme Court is set to consider in March.
David Daleiden — who obtained the undercover footage which put the women’s health and abortion provider under fire last year — asked a judge Friday for permission to present sealed evidence through an amicus brief asking the court to uphold the Texas law.
Daleiden says that in the process of investigating Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue practices, he obtained evidence that abortion clinics in Texas are able to comply with new laws requiring them to meet ambulatory surgical centers and obtain hospital admitting privileges.
In the case Whole Women’s Health v. Cole, abortion clinics are arguing that Texas’ new requirements are so strict that by forcing clinics to shutter around the state, they infringe upon a women’s right to obtain an abortion. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on March 2.
Daleiden says he obtained evidence countering that argument while attending a 2015 National Abortion Federation conference disguised as a human tissue buyer.
At least two presenters at one of the conference’s sessions provided information Daleiden says indicates clinics are capable of complying with the regulations, according to a motion he filed Friday with Judge William H. Orrick with the United States District Court, Northern District of California.
“Piecing together the information learned from various sources, including, for example, the staffing and number of abortions performed daily at one Texas abortion facility defendants visited, they can speak directly to amici’s contention that the demand for abortion services in Texas cannot be met if H.B. 2 takes full effect,” Daleiden’s attorneys at the nonprofit Thomas More Society wrote.
The Texas regulations have been mirrored in conservative-led states around the country, prompting a wave of lawsuits by abortion clinics and groups in favor of abortion rights. Republicans passing the legislation say they’re trying to make abortion safer for women, but opponents of the legislation say the measures are an attempt to shutter clinics. The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Texas law is likely to set major legal precedent for abortion law going forward.
In a separate effort, Daleiden spent several years investigating Planned Parenthood’s participation in supplying aborted fetal tissue to human tissue companies. The videos he released last summer raised questions about whether the provider profited from the tissue or performed illegal abortions to obtain it, and has prompted a congressional investigation.
NAF has brought a case against Daleiden for infiltrating its conference while disguised. The California federal court has halted Daleiden from making public the material he gathered at the conference.
