Skirting the Courts to Air Anti-Abortion Videos Attacking California Human Tissue Firm

Conservative organizations are exploring ways to sidestep judicial actions that have put a halt to some of the anti-abortion videos dogging a California stem cell/human tissue firm.

One proposal calls for Congressional committees to place the videos on the public record as a result of a Congressional request. The argument goes that the judges cannot prevent a Congressional hearing at which the videos are presented.

The company involved is StemExpress of Placerville, which was identified in videos taken surreptitiously by anti-abortion activists who used false names and a fake company to win the confidence of Planned Parenthood officials.

Both Senate and House committees are looking into the videos, deploring what was said about obtaining human tissue by the Planned Parenthood employees. Federal and state officials are looking into possible criminal violations by the anti-abortion activists who failed to get legal consent for recording the comments by Planned Parenthood officials.

StemExpress has won a temporary restraining order against further distribution of the videos, arguing that the firm has already been harmed and could be irreparably damaged. The firm also said violence has been threatened against company employees as a result of the videos.

Lawyers with the Heritage Foundation, Hans von Spakovsky and Elizabeth Slattery, wrote last week about the order in an item headlined,

“How Lawmakers Can Beat Planned Parenthood’s Stalling Tactics.”

They said, 

“No federal or state judge has the authority to prevent a congressional committee from holding a hearing at which witnesses … testify about their experiences or where the committee presents evidence it has obtained such as the undercover videos, which could also be posted on the committee’s website.” 

The WND website today picked up the lawyers’ suggestion. Bob Unruh wrote that the issue will escalate despite the current Congressional break. He quoted the Family Research Council as saying,

“The political pressure cooker will only get hotter back home when members hear from unhappy voters firsthand.”

The Congressional ploy would additionally­­ involve the National Abortion Federation, which has also won a restraining order on the videos. Hearings on both temporary restraining orders are scheduled for later this month in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In a related development, another California tissue firm, Advanced Bioscience Resources of Alameda, surfaced on the Politico Web site in connection with the controversy.

Jennifer Haberkorn and Brett Norman wrote,

“One of the companies (Advanced Bioscience)­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ identified as a fetal tissue supplier in sting videos of Planned Parenthood counts two federal health agencies among its customers, earning at least $300,000 for material used in research of treatments for HIV and eye disease….” 

In addition to a House committee, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has requested information from StemExpress, Advanced Biosciences and Novogenix Laboratories, LLC, of Los Angeles, about their policies, practices and revenue.

Three California Human Tissue Firms Targeted by House Committee

A Republican-dominated Congressional committee today zeroed in on three California human tissue firms entangled in the national flap over abortion and the Planned Parenthood Association.

All three were sent letters today seeking to determine whether the companies were in compliance with laws dealing with the distribution of fetal material.  They were given a deadline of Aug. 21 to provide a briefing to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Questions include procedures involving informed consent from donors, fees for fetal tissue, the amount of revenue from fetal tissues in 2014 along with policies and practices for handling fetal tissue.

StemExpress of Placerville, east of Sacramento, and its president Cate Dyer, received one of the letters. The stem cell and tissue firm has been much in the news about the controversy. The flap was triggered by Internet videos with Planned Parenthood officials that were taped surreptitiously by anti-abortion activists using false identities and false company credentials.

Both the federal and California departments of justice are investigating whether the anti-abortion activists violated the law when they made the undercover videos. 

The other two letters went to Linda Tracy, president of Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc., of Alameda, and Ben Van Handel, executive director of Novogenix Laboratories, LLC, of Los Angeles. (See the letter to Advanced here, the letter to Novogenix here.)

The letters to StemExpress and the Advanced Bioscience referred to a July 27, New York Times article that included them. The House committee letter quoted from the piece.

The article by Denise Grady and Nicolaus St. Fleur said, 

"(F)etal tissue is a uniquely rich source of the stem cells that give rise to tissues and organs, and that studying how they develop can provide clues about how to grow replacements for parts of the body that have failed.

“'Think of fetal tissue as a kind of instruction booklet,' said Sheldon Miller, the scientific director of the intramural research program at the National Eye Institute.

"Stem cells derived from adult tissue may eventually replace fetal ones, researchers say, but the science is not there yet."

All three companies were told by the House committee,

“Under the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993, it is "unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human fetal tissue for valuable consideration if the
transfer affects interstate commerce." While this provision prohibits the sale or purchase of fetal
tissue itself, the term "valuable consideration" does not include reasonable payments associated
with the transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of
human fetal tissue. As the committee with legislative jurisdiction over the NIH Revitalization
Act of 1993, we have an oversight responsibility and interest in determining whether there is
adequate compliance with the law, and/or whether the law is adequately meeting ethical and
moral concerns." 

A Reuters story said that none of the companies has responded to a request for comment.

Text of Court Documents in the StemExpress-Daleiden Case

Coming up on Aug. 19 in Los Angeles will be the next court hearing on the temporary restraining order obtained by StemExpress against David Daleiden. (See here for a related story.)

Here is the text of the July 2015 request by StemExpress for the order.

  StemExpress Filing for Restraining Order Against David Dalaiden by DavidJensen

Here is the actual text of order that was granted.

   Temporary Restraining Order Obtained by StemExpress Against David Daleiden by DavidJensen