StemExpress won a temporary restraining order from the Los Angeles Superior Court barring the Center for Medical Progress from released a video that features three StemExpress executives.
Associated Press reports:
A temporary restraining order has been issued preventing an anti-abortion group from releasing any video of leaders of a California company that provides fetal tissue to researchers. The group is the same one that previously released three covertly shot videos of a Planned Parenthood leader discussing the sale of aborted fetuses for research.
The Los Angeles Superior Court order issued Tuesday prohibits the Center for Medical Progress from releasing any video of three high-ranking StemExpress officials taken at a restaurant in May. It appears to be the first legal action prohibiting the release of a video from the organization…
…StemExpress is a Placerville-based company started in 2010 that provides human tissue, blood and other specimens to researchers. Planned Parenthood is one of the company’s providers of fetal tissue.
A company spokesman said StemExpress is “grateful its rights have been vindicated in a court of law.”
The latest video released featured an ex-StemExpress employee, Holly O’Donnell, who said, “I thought I was going to be just drawing blood, not procuring tissue from aborted fetuses.” O’Donnell said shed fainted in shock on her first day of work in a Planned Parenthood clinic when suddenly asked to dissect a freshly-aborted fetus during her on-the-job training.
The complaint filed by StemExpress stated, “Defendants are anti-abortion advocates. In furtherance of their cause, Defendants have engaged in a public campaign against Planned Parenthood.”
“In the course of this campaign, Defendants have committed numerous illegal acts against StemExpress and its employees,” the complaint continues.
David Daleiden with the Center for Medical Progress called the lawsuit baseless.
“StemExpress, a for-profit company partnered with over 30 abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood, to harvest and sell aborted baby parts and provide a ‘financial benefit’ to Planned Parenthood clinics, is attempting to use meritless litigation to cover-up this illegal baby parts trade, suppress free speech, and silence the citizen press reporting on issues of burning concern to the American public,” Daleiden said in a released statement.
“They are not succeeding—their initial petition was rejected by the court, and their second petition was eviscerated to a narrow and contingent order about an alleged recording pending CMP’s opportunity to respond. The Center for Medical Progress follows all applicable laws in the course of our investigative journalism work and will contest all attempts from Planned Parenthood and their allies to silence our First Amendment rights and suppress investigative journalism,” he added.
It is uncertain how this restraining order will impact future video releases as it only applies to video with StemExpress executives.
