Pro-life activist David Daleiden and his attorneys now face nearly $200,000 in fines after the lawyers posted online an undercover video banned by a court order.
The video, which lawyers for Daleiden insist they had the right to post, featured Lisa Harris, the medical director of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, admitting that abortion amounts to murder.
“Given that we actually see the fetus the same way, and given that we might actually both agree that there’s violence in here, let’s just give them all the violence,” Harris said, referring to pro-life activists. “It’s a person, it’s killing, let’s just give them all that.”
Federal District Court Judge William Orrick of San Francisco ordered YouTube to remove the video and slapped Daleiden and attorneys Steve Cooley and Bretford Ferrreira with a $195,359.04 fine to cover attorney fees, travel expenses, lost work, and even photocopying costs claimed by Planned Parenthood employees.
Daleiden’s lawyers already appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Orrick’s gag order covering hours of video shot by Daleiden and other activists with the Center for Medical Progress. Matthew Geragos, representing Daleiden’s attorneys, now plans to appeal the fine.
— by Samantha Gobba