FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FULL PRODUCTION OF ABORTED BABY HARVESTING PUBLIC RECORDS SECURED FROM UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, DISMISSING LAWSUIT
Planned Parenthood and UW Representatives Sued in 2016 to Prevent Release of Records on Government-Sponsored Fetal Experimentation, 12 Years’ Worth Will Now Be Produced
Contact: David Daleiden, media@centerformedicalprogress.org, 949.734.0859
SEATTLE, Dec. 13—The University of Washington, and associated individuals from Planned Parenthood and the University, have settled a federal lawsuit with The Center for Medical Progress’ founder and president, David Daleiden, over the release under the Washington Public Records Act of the University’s documents concerning taxpayer-funded experiments on aborted fetuses. Daleiden first filed a PRA request for the documents in February 2016.
Under the terms of the settlement, the taxpayer-funded public University will produce extensive records concerning its harvesting, use, and distribution of aborted fetuses and their organs and tissues, from 2010 to present, and pay $30,000 in attorneys’ fees to Daleiden’s counsel. Individuals associated with the University and Planned Parenthood will dismiss their lawsuit preventing the release of the documents, and Daleiden will dismiss his cross-claim against the University for violation of the Public Records Act.
“Public entities’ good faith compliance with public records laws is crucial to promoting public trust, holding bad actors accountable under the law, and safeguarding democratic values,” notes Daleiden. “State actors’ transparency and accountability under freedom of information laws is even more important in the realm of government-sponsored experiments on aborted human fetuses, where laws against infanticide and organ trafficking, the systemic exploitation of the vulnerable, and the irreversible life-or-death abortion decisions of new families are at stake. The Center for Medical Progress will continue to monitor and report on these issues to educate the public and advocate for more just and humane abortion and research policies.”
The University of Washington has operated an NIH-funded center for harvesting and distributing aborted fetal organs and tissues, the “Birth Defects Research Laboratory” (BDRL), for over 50 years. Like many University hubs for fetal experimentation, UW also hosts Planned Parenthood’s abortion training program, the “Fellowship in Complex Family Planning”. Since 2015, Planned Parenthood has held out the University of Washington program as its gold standard for participating in the supply of aborted fetuses for government-sponsored experiments.
Daleiden’s public records request sought documentation and communications concerning the relationship between Planned Parenthood and UW, the approval of fetal experimentation projects, the volume of business and kinds of fetal organs harvested and distributed at the BDRL, and NIH involvement in fetal experimentation at UW. Individual representatives of the University and Planned Parenthood sued UW and Daleiden in late 2016 seeking to enjoin the release of the public records. The records will now be produced.
###
Learn more about CMP’s investigative reporting at www.centerformedicalprogress.org
