San Francisco, CA – On Monday, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Troy Newman, et al. 

The case involves the 2015 undercover exposé of Planned Parenthood’s internal communications and activities related to the trafficking of tissue and organs of aborted babies. The 30-month undercover operation showed Planned Parenthood executives heartlessly haggling over premium rates for organs of aborted babies. Those executives were also caught on tape discussing possibly illegal methods for manipulating abortion procedures to secure profitable intact organs. 

Operation Rescue President, Troy Newman, helped form the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) in 2013 and served on the board during its widely publicized, undercover video investigation. The other defendants in the case, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, who posed as employees of CMP, as well as another board member, filed similar petitions this week.  

In the brief, ACLJ presented arguments that the Ninth Circuit panel made significant constitutional errors that warrant a new trial, either a panel rehearing or a rehearing en banc. 

An en banc session is reserved for cases of significant public importance, wherein all the judges of the court review a decision previously made by a panel of a few selected judges (in this case, three).  

In November, the three-member Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the lower court’s judgment concerning claims of trespassing, fraud, conspiracy, breach of contracts, unlawful and fraudulent business practices, violating civil Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) and various federal and state wiretapping laws. 

Though it affirmed the award of infiltration and security damages, it reversed the jury’s verdict that the Federal Wiretap Act had been violated. Still, the panel held that punitive and compensatory damages are due to Planned Parenthood in the amount of over $16 million (nearly $14 million in attorney’s fees and costs, and more than $2 million in damages) for the videos, which it claims, without proof, were deceptive and a violation of the First Amendment.

“A spotlight of truth has illuminated the dark underbelly of the powerful conglomerate known as Planned Parenthood,” said Newman. 

“It has been worth it to show the world how this bloodthirsty, money-hungry enterprise profits from killing innocent, precious babies and then greedily profits again from the sale of their organs. It is like something from an incredibly dark and disturbing novel, only it is true, and it is happening in the real world in which we live.  

“With the prayers and help of passionate pro-lifers, Operation Rescue will continue to fight for the lives of innocent children by exposing the dark and evil truth behind abortion at every possible turn.”