Planned Parenthood Wins Suit Against Activists Who Released Secret Manipulated Videos

(See also: A liberal source is somewhat concerned about the judgment, especially since the "manipulated" part might not be necessary.  Thus, e.g.,  merely breaking rules against taping etc. is involved though he notes that this might be a normative concern, not one matching current law. I comment there, but suffice to say I question this as a whole. The jury should weigh everything and First Amendment exception to the rules in place seem questionable.  At least, enough appears to have been done wrongly here for a fair judgment though we can debate particulars like the breadth of the damages. But, the concern is reasonable.)

The footage was then allegedly edited to make it appear as though the group was selling the tissue for a profit. Planned Parenthood says they do not sell tissue, but at the time they did engage in the legal practice of taking fees to cover procurement. In 2018, they stopped accepting fees to cover procurement costs. The organization claims discussions about fees were manipulated to make it seem as though they were "selling" the tissue.

With all the bad news out there, it is somewhat appreciated that sometimes we get good news such as a report of a $2M judgment for Planned Parenthood "after a jury found that an anti-abortion group had broken multiple laws by secretly recording and releasing manipulatively edited video footage of doctors and staff."  One doubts they will ever get the money, the judgment itself occurring years after the events occurred, but can still be a deterrent.

A jury decided the damages, but the linked article talks about how the right wing troll involved complained about how unfair the judge was. The claim that they were protected by press privilege (the overall issue taken seriously here as it on some level should be) was found to be besides the point since even if they were "press," they wouldn't have the right to break the law. I would think a reasonable argument there would be for the jury to factor that in when deciding damages. As is, they come off more as an advocacy group.  There is a continual debate if the "press" as such should get more protections, but a basic point there is you have an institution with editorial standards and so forth that warrant extra respect than a group like this.

A basis result of the whole affair was to embarrass Planned Parenthood and cause some to be upset about how freely fetal tissue research was discussed.  The basic idea that fetal tissue research is done could not really be challenged very much since it was well established that it was respectable and had multiple promising implications. But, it just seemed so icky to talk about some of the details. Not that the person involved was doing so in an op-ed or something.  She thought she was talking to an insider who was involved in handling research supply and such so did not feel a special need to cushion her conversation in euphemisms or such.  People were left to complaining that she was talking to him in some public place and she might have been overheard or something.  It was ridiculous and I discussed the matter in this thread, even if it seemed diplomatic for some at the time (see linked video) to apologize for the tone of certain comments.

(The "profit" concern also is dubious at best. If you support research, it is not simply going to be done by the goodness of the hearts of those involved. Some sort of fees and so forth will be charged.  Some of the same people who get the vapors here would find it appalling if we just make the whole thing publicly funded or something with zero profit motive at all.)  

Some things are just at least somewhat embarrassing and we do not wish to talk about the details openly.  Or, at least some of us, my efforts here at times to be open about such things especially since no one reads my blog. Seriously, it is appropriate for some people to basically be grown ups and face up to some things that might be uncomfortable in some fashion. This includes keeping in perspective video or photos that can be embarrassing, but still needs to be kept in the proper perspective.

Anyway, the judgment is appreciated since the laws in question are appropriate to protect privacy, especially for something sensitive like this. Plus, even if release might in some case have a justified muckraking function, it was done illegitimately here to mislead the public. This would be problematic even for a more reputable group and action. I am not sure how that amount was obtained (seems a bit high), but the result is just.