The official charging document has not yet been released by Harris County. But according to the New York Times, David Daleiden, the director of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), has been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. Another CMP employee, Sandra Merritt, was indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record.

What just happened?

A grand jury in Harris County, Texas (the county where Houston is located) has indicted two of the undercover videographers associated with the Center for Medical Progress, the group of citizen journalists who filmed undercover meetings with Planned Parenthood (PP) discussing the sale of fetal body parts. The grand jury had also been asked to consider charges against the local PP franchise, but did not issue an indictment.

What were the charges?

The official charging document has not yet been released by Harris County. Butaccording to the New York Times, David Daleiden, the director of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), has been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. Another CMP employee, Sandra Merritt, was indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record.

The county has not reported what government records were tampered with. However, in their investigation, CMP posed as a biotech research business, Biomax Procurement Services, for the undercover investigation. The records may have been documents (government forms, identification cards, etc.) related to their sting operation.

(See below for more about grand juries and indictments.)

Why would CMP be charged with “purchasing human organs”?

The relevant state law is Texas Penal Code § 48.02: Prohibition of the Purchase and Sale of Human Organs:

(a) “Human organ” means the human kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, eye, bone, skin, fetal tissue, or any other human organ or tissue, but does not include hair or blood, blood components (including plasma), blood derivatives, or blood reagents.

(b) A person commits an offense if he or she knowingly or intentionally offers to buy, offers to sell, acquires, receives, sells, or otherwise transfers any human organ for valuable consideration.

(c) It is an exception to the application of this section that the valuable consideration is: (1) a fee paid to a physician or to other medical personnel for services rendered in the usual course of medical practice or a fee paid for hospital or other clinical services; (2) reimbursement of legal or medical expenses incurred for the benefit of the ultimate receiver of the organ; or (3) reimbursement of expenses of travel, housing, and lost wages incurred by the donor of a human organ in connection with the donation of the organ.

(d) A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

While it is unclear which, if any, of the CMP videos were used as evidence, several of them do show Daleiden offering to buy fetal parts from PP as part of the sting operation. Under this Texas statute, Daleiden would have violated this section even if he had no intention of carrying out the actual purchase of the fetal remains.

Why was Planned Parenthood not charged with selling fetal parts?

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