Planned Parenthood Files Federal Lawsuit Over Secret Videos

Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco Thursday against the organization that released edited tapes involving Planned Parenthood. Those tapes allegedly showed that fetal tissue from abortions was being sold by the women’s health organization.

The Center for Medical Progress was named as the lead plaintiff in the suit, along with named and unnamed co-conspirators.

Planned Parenthood claims CMP is “a complex criminal enterprise conceived and executed by anti-abortion extremists.”

The filing claims, “The express aim of the enterprise — which stretched over years and involved fake companies, fake identifications, and large-scale illegal taping — was a to demonize Planned Parenthood.”

In an online statement, CMP called the lawsuit frivolous, adding “This last-ditch move of desperation is going to expose all of the sordid dealings of the California Planned Parenthood affiliates to the light of the legal system and the public will see them for the corrupt abortion and baby body parts profiteers that they really are.”

The tapes prompted a congressional hearing and investigations in several states. It is also believed to have been the catalyst for an attack on a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs that killed three people.

Buzzfeed has published a copy of the complete lawsuit online. National Planned Parenthood along with California affiliates filed the suit.

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