On the Record: Bittersweet Charges

It's a win for justice when false accusations are absolved, but it's even sweeter when those throwing the shots at the innocent party get slapped with a punishment.

Case in point: Tasked with deciding if Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast violated the law after undercover, highly edited video attempted to show the sale of fetal tissue, a Harris County grand jury chose instead to indict the anti-choice activists who concocted the surreptitious sting operation that led to the allegations ("Grand Jury Clears Planned Parenthood, Indicts Anti-Abortion Activists" Jan. 25). David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the anti-abortion extremist group, the Center for Medical Progress, face second-degree felonies for tampering with a governmental record; Daleiden, CMP's founder, also faces an indictment for the purchase and sale of human organs. Both Daleiden and Merritt have turned themselves in to authorities and await a court date. Turns out creating a fraudulent biomedical company and falsifying your name and identification to expose the "selling of baby parts" to out-of-state health providers who have no interest in profiting off fetal tissue isn't the brilliant, foolproof scheme you would imagine.

Some may consider it karma; some may consider it just an epic case of backfiring. Either way, the indictments deliver significant vindication for Planned Parenthood practices, constantly besieged by Republican-led assaults. Moreover, it's a victory for reproductive rights in Texas – a feeling pro-choice advocates rarely have the opportunity to relish.

Of course, anti-choicers cried "runaway grand jury" and slammed the 12 citizens for punishing the "whistleblower" while defense attorneys asked D.A. Devon Anderson to re-present the investigation to another grand jury. They also claimed a prosecutor who sat on the Planned Parenthood board was involved with the investigation (that's false – the D.A. made sure she wasn't involved from the outset). The backlash compelled Anderson, a self-avowed "pro-life" Republican, to release a video in response. "I believe abortion is wrong, but my personal belief does not relieve me of my obligation to follow the law," she said.

Amid the right-wing cacophony, the facts and the law prevailed.

However, for the Texas GOP, the facts don't really matter.

Shortly after the indictments rolled in, Gov. Greg Abbott cavalierly shrugged off the breach of law. "Nothing about today's announcement in Harris County impacts the state's ongoing investigation," he announced. "The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue." He reminded that dual inquiries, one conducted by the Health and Human Services Commission, and the other by Attorney General Ken Paxton, will continue despite the discovery of no wrongdoing. (To be fair, Paxton may not place much weight on indictments – facing three himself, including two first-degree felonies, he has failed to recuse himself as the state's chief legal and law enforcement officer.)

The state, fueled by ideology and religious zealotry, has shown time and time again how far they will allow a fiction to impact policy. As evidenced by the overwhelming number of anti-abortion voices during a specially called summer hearing at the Capitol to investigate Planned Parenthood ("Hearing or Anti-Abortion Attack?" July 29, 2015) the state's interest clearly isn't in deciphering the truth when it comes to the fetal tissue debacle, rather it's about giving yet another platform for anti-choice advocates to sound the (false) alarm.

State officials will undoubtedly continue to use the dubious videos as ammo to further punish Planned Parenthood, which is already seeing attacks on its HIV prevention funds, breast and cervical cancer screening program, and participation in Medicaid. They will use the false allegations to keep smearing the health provider and to institute laws that hurt vulnerable, low-income patients, who are often collateral damage in the state's war on abortion rights. Whether or not a clinic actually partook in fetal tissue donation programs will be irrelevant (local Austin Planned Parenthood clinics do not participate, for instance).

And speaking of collateral damage, their disregard may also threaten medical science and research: As a result of the discredited videos, expect legislation to crop up in January that restricts or even bans fetal tissue donation in Texas, which could hamper lifesaving research at institutions and universities. And they will do all this, despite the facts.

In the end, the indictments – which should be savored as a victory – also remind us that even when those throwing the shots at the innocent party get slapped with a punishment, the outcome tastes bittersweet if those in power fail to accept the charges.