David Daleiden faces up to 20 years in jail for exposing Planned Parenthood selling baby parts

David Daleiden, the pro-life investigator who exposed Planned Parenthood selling baby parts, faces up to 20 years in prison after a Houston grand jury indicted him for offering to purchase human organs from the abortion giant.

Sandra Merritt, his colleague from the Centre for Medical Progress (CMP), has also been indicted. At the same time, the jury decided NOT to charge Planned Parenthood with ANY wrongdoing - effectively letting them off scot-free.

As LifeSiteNews reports:

Center for Medical Progress lead investigator David Daleiden faces a second-degree felony charge of "tampering with a governmental record," and a misdemeanor charge for violating the state's "prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs."

That is, jurors in the state of Texas are accusing David Daleiden of trying to illegally traffic in aborted babies' body parts.

The jurors pressed the same charges against Sandra Merritt, who claimed to be "Susan Tennenbaum," the CEO of BioMax, on its incorporation papers.

Texas state law only allows someone to be charged with such a serious felony "if the actor's intent in committing the offense was to defraud or harm another."

That felony charge alone carries a punishment of not less than two, and not more than 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000.

Ironically, the investigation began after Daleiden and Merritt posed as business associates eager to pay Planned Parenthood to furnish human body parts that its fictitious company would use in scientific experiments - something they hoped would expose the abortion industry's criminal wrongdoing.

Not guilty - yet

No information has been released regarding what government records Daleiden and Merritt allegedly tampered with.

The indictment alone does not mean that Daleiden or Merrit have been found guilty of any offence. In the US, a grand jury is made up of ordinary citizens who are presented with evidence and testimony from the prosecutor alone - without any input from the defence - in order to form their theory of a case.

From that information, the jury must decide if they believe there is enough 'probable cause' to move the case forward in the judicial process.

Planned Parenthood rocked by scandal

It is the decision to clear Planned Parenthood of any offence whilst levelling blame at the CMP investigators that will have most observers scratching their heads in bewilderment, though.

The series of videos released by the Centre for Medical Progress has resulted in months of turmoil for Planned Parenthood. President Cecile Richards was forced to apologise for the 'tone used' after the first video showed Dr Deborah Nucatola, senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood, admitting that Planned Parenthood perform illegal partial-birth abortions to sell intact foetal organs.

In the second video, Planned Parenthood doctor Maru Gatter was caught discussing the pricing of aborted baby body parts - telling the biotech company officials that the prices for such things as a baby’s liver, head or heart are negotiable. This is in direct contrast to Planned Parenthood's line that the only money they charge for body parts is for 'expenses'. She also boasted that she could potentially persuade the abortionists to alter the abortion procedure to kill the baby in a way that would best preserve those body parts after the unborn child is killed.

In the fifth video, Director of Research for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Melissa Farrell, claimed that the Texas Planned Parenthood has "an edge over other organisations" because they sell the bodies of fully-intact unborn babies. This led many to suspect that Planned Parenthood could be breaking the Born Alive Infants Protection Act that requires abortion clinics to provide appropriate medical care for a baby born alive, whether after a failed abortion or purposefully birthed to "let die."

Shock and outrage

Pro-life leaders have reacted with shock and outrage at yesterday's verdict. Lila Rose - who herself has uncovered evidence of Planned Parenthood law-breaking through investigative journalism - released the following statement:

"David Daleiden and his team have done a tremendous public service by exposing the horrific crimes against humanity that Planned Parenthood hides behind closed doors. CMP’s investigation forced Planned Parenthood, a tax-funded billion dollar corporation, to admit it was harvesting and selling aborted baby parts.

"The district attorney’s office was asked months ago about recusing itself from this case because one of its prosecutors serves as a board member of the Planned Parenthood affiliate involved in the case. It is unacceptable that the office did not recuse itself to eliminate any and all questions of potential bias. A special prosecutor should be appointed now to review this entire investigation."

Abbott vows to continue investigation

Despite the surprise decision by the Houston grand jury, Texan Governor Greg Abbott vowed to continue the state's investigation into Planned Parenthood:

"The Health and Human Service Commission’s Inspector General and the Attorney General’s office have an ongoing investigation into Planned Parenthood’s actions," said Gov. Abbott in a press release Monday. "Nothing about today’s announcement in Harris County impacts the state’s ongoing investigation."

"The state of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of foetal tissue," he vowed.

The first undercover video released by Daleiden currently has over 3 million views:

You can watch all the videos released by the Centre for Medical Progress on their YouTube channel.