A statement from the Texas Right to Life organization said, “When a grand jury indicts the very people who report a crime, rather than indicting the criminals, something goes clearly wrong.” “As the dust settles,” he said, “and the truth comes out, it’s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we’re glad they’re being held accountable.”Ĭonservative religious leaders and politicians, however, condemned what they described as the unfair indictment of the anti-abortion video makers. Planned Parenthood spokesman Eric Ferrero hailed the indictments, accusing the videographers of having an “extreme anti-abortion political agenda.” “If you are purporting to use a driver’s license, which is a public record, that is beyond the pale, because there are reasons for society to want to protect the legitimacy of purported government records,” she said. Grand juries rarely indict people on misdemeanor charges, and the felony charge is based on a relatively obscure statute of the Texas Penal Code.ĭalieden, who heads the California-based nonprofit Center for Medical Progress, said he and Merritt used well-established investigative journalism techniques and should be shielded by the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and press.īut in a VOA interview, legal expert Melissa Hamilton, a visiting scholar at the University of Houston, said prosecutors were likely to reject that argument. The grand jury also indicted Dalieden for the solicitation or sale of human organs, a misdemeanor. A Houston grand jury investigating undercover footage at the Houston clinic found no wrongdoing by the abortion provider.Įach was charged with a felony for tampering with a government record - in this case, allegedly using fake California driver's licenses. The entrance to a Planned Parenthood clinic is seen in Houston, Jan.