California Readies Bill Outlawing Sting Videos Against Planned Parenthood
Nobody backs Planned Parenthood in the corner.
9.1.2016
51
It’s becoming clear in California that no one tangles with Planned Parenthood. State lawmakers are nearing final approval of a bill that would make it a crime to produce an undercover sting video against the abortion giant.
From The Washington Post:
The California legislature is near final approval of a bill that would make it a crime, punishable by a jail sentence, to carry out and distribute undercover video or audio stings against Planned Parenthood and other health-care groups…The bill was approved by the California state Senate on Wednesday and has broad support in the Assembly, which passed an earlier version and is expected to concur in several Senate amendments before sending it to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.
Punishment for breaking the law would be paying a fine, one year in jail or both for a first offense. Subsequent offenses will incur the same with higher fines added.
The law is in response to the undercover operation by Center for Medical Progress which exposed Planned Parenthood’s participation in the sale of fetal tissue. The undercover agents who posed as buyers were brought up on charges across multiple state investigations and before Congress. However, this bill seeks to make it a crime to record what people say in public, as noted at HotAir:
There are more problems with this legislation than you can shake a stick at. It’s already being opposed by groups as diverse as pro-life organizations, the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. While it’s understandable how secret recordings can’t be used against you in a court of law unless a warrant is issued to law enforcement for a wire tap or bug, none of those rules seem to apply here. Particularly when you’re in an open setting like a restaurant, what you say in a public space might well be heard by anyone. (That’s a venue used often by CMP in their sting operation.) How is that protected under any definition of privacy?The laws they already have on the books regarding such recordings are problematic enough, but how does California justify extra legislation which only applies to the privacy of health care organizations? Why is their speech more private and protected than anyone else’s? A stiff jail term and large fine for recording what someone says in a public space seems not only unfair, but absurd. And applying it only to Planned Parenthood takes us into the realm of dystopian science fiction.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood stand behind the bill saying,
“After the video smear campaign last summer, we experienced a ninefold increase in violence against our providers and our health centers. With the Internet and the tremendous wildfire nature in which news can be spread now through social media, we need to have a crime against distribution by those in particular who did the illegal recording.”
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