A grand jury in Texas has indicted the two Center for Medical Progress activists who secretly shot videos of Planned Parenthood officials, one of them on a charge related to purchasing human organs.
A grand jury in Texas has indicted the two Center for Medical Progress activists who secretly shot videos of Planned Parenthood officials, one of them on a charge related to purchasing human organs. a katz/Shutterstock

As part of the ongoing fight over last summer's heavily edited Planned Parenthood videos, a grand jury in Harris County, Texas, was asked to investigate the Houston affiliate of the organization. But instead of indicting Planned Parenthood, that jury today indicted two anti-abortion activists involved in making the videos.

From the Washington Post:

David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. Another activist, Sandra Merritt, was also indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record.

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson didn’t specify what record or records were allegedly tampered with in a statement announcing the indictment.

“We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,” Anderson said. “As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us.”

According to Planned Parenthood, 11 states, including Washington, have conducted investigations into the organization and concluded the same thing as the grand jury in Texas: that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong. Still, Texas isn't done with Planned Parenthood. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the state will continue with its own investigation of the organization.

Eric Ferrero, vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America said in a statement today: “These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda. As the dust settles and the truth comes out, it's become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we're glad they're being held accountable."