For Immediate Release: April 7, 2021
Media Contacts: press@prochoice.org; 202-918-7768
Today, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the National Abortion Federation (NAF) summary judgment and a permanent injunction barring David Daleiden, Biomax Procurement Services LLC, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), and their agents and co-conspirators from releasing recordings and materials they illegally obtained at NAF’s educational meetings.
“This permanent injunction is incredibly important to the safety and security of our members,” said The Very Reverend Katherine Ragsdale, NAF President and CEO. “Without a permanent injunction, there is no question that David Daleiden would continue releasing footage from our meetings, which would result in cycles of harassment and violence against NAF, our members, and other abortion providers as we have seen repeatedly and consistently happen with each video release since 2015.”
As we’ve known all along, David Daleiden and his co-conspirators are the ones who broke the law, not abortion providers. In order to circumvent the necessary security precautions NAF has in place, CMP engaged in a long-running illegal conspiracy. They set up a fake company and sent fake employees of that company with fake identities to misrepresent themselves and gain access to NAF’s annual meetings and member facilities that provide abortion care. They signed agreements with NAF that prohibited the activities they have engaged in, obviously with no intention of honoring those agreements. Since we first filed our lawsuit on July 31, 2015, Daleiden has obstructed and delayed every attempt to hold him and his cohorts accountable for their illegal actions. Today’s ruling sends a clear message that no one is above the law.
Derek Foran, Morrison & Foerster partner and litigation counsel for NAF, was pleased with the court’s ruling. “We are delighted with today’s victory. Morrison & Foerster is proud to stand with NAF and its members in the fight against anti-abortion extremists, who have placed abortion providers in personal jeopardy, simply for ensuring the constitutional right of women in this country to make their own reproductive choices.”
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