Federal Judge Orders Abortion Foes Not to come-out with the Secret Filmed Videos

In a sharp rebuke, a federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction ordering abortion opponents not to release videos they had secretly made at meetings of abortion providers, and he added that the opponents’ claims that such organizations were illegally selling fetal tissue were baseless.

In the ruling, Judge William H. Orrick of United States District Court in San Francisco also brushed aside claims by the abortion opponents that their use of fraudulent documents and violations of confidentiality agreements to infiltrate meetings of abortion providers were protected because they were journalists involved in what they described as an undercover investigation.The ruling marked the second major setback in recent weeks for the anti-abortion group, the Center for Medical Progress.

Late last month, the center’s director, David Daleiden, and an associate, Sandra S. Merritt, were indicted by a grand jury in the Houston area on criminal felony charges of tampering with a government record — specifically, creating phony California driver’s licenses. Mr. Daleiden was also charged with trying to buy human organs, a misdemeanor. Both have pleaded not guilty.