Why prosecuting the makers of the Planned Parenthood sting videos sets a dangerous precedent

Investigations like this should be protected, not punished

Anti-abortion activist David Daleiden.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Bob Levey)

In 2015, a group called the Center for Medical Progress published a series of undercover videos on Planned Parenthood. The videos showed the two filmmakers, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, who had posed as representatives of a fake biotechnology company, discussing fetal tissue with Planned Parenthood officials. When the videos were released, Planned Parenthood said they had been deceptively edited by the Center for Medical Progress. But many abortion opponents, myself included, believe the videos proved that Planned Parenthood engaged in the little-known practice of harvesting aborted fetal tissues and illegally selling them to laboratories for profit. Some sort of punishment was surely in order for Planned Parenthood ... right?

That's not what happened.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.