Center for Medical Progress: Videos, Convictions, and Judgments

The Center for Medical Progress is an anti-abortion nonprofit founded in 2013 that became nationally known for releasing a series of undercover videos in 2015 accusing Planned Parenthood of illegally selling fetal tissue. More than a dozen state investigations and multiple congressional inquiries cleared Planned Parenthood of the allegations, and the group’s founder, David Daleiden, along with associate Sandra Merritt, were convicted of felonies in California in January 2025 for illegally recording private conversations. The organization also lost a federal civil case brought by Planned Parenthood that ended in a judgment of roughly $16 million.

Who Runs the Organization

CMP was formed in approximately March 2013 by David Daleiden, Troy Newman, and Albin Rhomberg.¹ Daleiden is its president. Newman, who runs the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, served as secretary and a board member, though by early 2016 some accounts described him as a former board member while his own organization still listed him as current.²

The group has held 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status since December 2013. In its IRS application it described its work as developing “special educational projects to raise awareness about the medical ethics implicated in medical advances, such as stem cell research, and other bioethical issues.” Its most recent tax filing, for the fiscal year ending December 2024, reported total revenue of roughly $1.6 million, expenses of about $2 million, and negative net assets of approximately $2.1 million. Daleiden’s listed compensation was $149,000.³

The 2015 Undercover Videos

To gather the footage, CMP created a front company, BioMax Procurement Services, LLC. Daleiden filed articles of organization with the California Secretary of State listing a fictitious person, “Susan Tennenbaum,” as manager. Sandra Merritt was paid to pose as Tennenbaum, BioMax’s supposed CEO. Daleiden and Merritt used fake California driver’s licenses obtained through a Craigslist service to back up the identities, and the team built out a website, business cards, and a Facebook page to make the cover persuasive.⁴

Posing as tissue procurement executives, Daleiden and his team gained access to Planned Parenthood clinics, staff, and National Abortion Federation conferences between October 2013 and July 2015, secretly recording conversations about fetal tissue donation. CMP began releasing the videos in the summer of 2015. By September 2015, eight had been published, five with hidden-camera footage of Planned Parenthood staff.⁵ CMP said the footage showed Planned Parenthood “trafficking fetal tissue and organs.”

Planned Parenthood called the videos heavily edited and commissioned the research firm Fusion GPS to analyze them. The review, which involved an independent transcription service and a forensic expert who teaches at the FBI Academy at Quantico, identified 42 instances of edits, deletions, or transcripts that did not match the audio.⁶ In one video, a staff member said nine separate times that Planned Parenthood does not profit from or sell fetal tissue; all nine statements were cut.⁵ The analysts concluded the videos lacked “evidentiary value” for legal or official inquiries.⁷ CMP dismissed the analysis as “a complete failure” and attributed gaps to “bathroom breaks and waiting periods.”⁸ Planned Parenthood also disclosed that only two of its 59 affiliates were involved in fetal tissue research.

What Investigations Found

By January 2016, twelve states had completed inquiries prompted by the videos. None found evidence that Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal tissue or profited from donations.⁹ States clearing the organization included Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington. Florida found no evidence of tissue sales but cited clinics for unrelated licensing issues. Eight additional states declined to investigate.

Donating fetal tissue to researchers and recouping associated expenses is legal under federal law.¹⁰ In October 2015, Planned Parenthood announced it would stop accepting even those lawful reimbursements, saying the move was intended to defuse the controversy.¹¹

Four House committees and one special panel also looked into the allegations. Three of the congressional investigations cleared Planned Parenthood.¹² The House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, chaired by Representative Marsha Blackburn, issued a 413-page report in December 2016 accusing research institutions and abortion providers of illegally profiting from fetal tissue and recommending that NIH stop funding fetal tissue research and that Planned Parenthood lose federal funding.

The political consequences outran the legal findings. Alabama, Utah, Louisiana, and Arkansas terminated Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The University of Missouri ended admitting-privilege agreements with abortion providers and training contracts with Planned Parenthood affiliates after legislative pressure. House Republicans attempted to attach a rider to a spending bill imposing a one-year, $500 million moratorium on federal funding for the organization.¹¹

Criminal Convictions in California

A Harris County, Texas, grand jury convened to investigate Planned Parenthood indicted Daleiden and Merritt instead in January 2016, charging Daleiden with a second-degree felony for tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor for attempting to buy human organs.¹³ The misdemeanor was dismissed in June 2016, and the Harris County District Attorney’s office dismissed the remaining felony on July 26, 2016, citing limits under Texas law on the scope of extended grand jury investigations.¹⁴

California was different. Then-Attorney General Kamala Harris announced in July 2015 that her office would examine whether Daleiden and his associates violated state recording laws.¹⁵ In April 2016, state agents searched Daleiden’s apartment and seized video files.¹⁶ On March 28, 2017, prosecutors filed 15 felony counts against Daleiden and Merritt: 14 counts of invasion of privacy, one for each person allegedly recorded without consent, plus one count of criminal conspiracy to invade privacy. The case rested on California’s two-party consent law, which requires all parties to agree to being recorded.¹⁷

On January 27, 2025, after nearly eight years in San Francisco Superior Court, both defendants pleaded no contest to one felony count each of unlawful recording of confidential communications under California Penal Code Section 632(a). They waived appeal. Under the plea, they are prohibited from contacting or naming the recorded victims and must obey all laws. A sentencing hearing was set for roughly a year later, in early 2026, and the defendants are eligible to petition to have the felony reduced to a misdemeanor if they comply with the plea terms.¹⁰¹⁸ Daleiden called the result “a huge victory for my investigative reporting.” Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said: “Make no mistake: the defendants are now convicted felons.”

The Civil Judgments

Planned Parenthood sued CMP, Daleiden, Merritt, Newman, BioMax, and others in federal court in the Northern District of California in January 2016. The fourteen counts included civil racketeering under RICO, federal and state wiretapping violations, fraud, trespass, breach of contract, conspiracy, and unlawful business practices.¹⁹ After a six-week trial before Judge William Orrick, a jury found against the defendants on every count.

The district court entered damages totaling about $2.4 million: $366,873 in infiltration damages, $101,048 in security damages, $870,000 in punitive damages, and $90,000 in statutory damages under the Federal Wiretap Act. Attorneys’ fees and costs added more than $13.7 million, pushing the total to roughly $16 million.²⁰ On October 21, 2022, a unanimous Ninth Circuit panel largely upheld the verdict, rejecting the First Amendment defense and ruling that “invoking journalism and the First Amendment does not shield individuals from liability for violations of laws applicable to all members of society.”²¹ The panel reversed only the Federal Wiretap Act verdict and the $90,000 tied to it. The Supreme Court denied review on October 2, 2023.²² The Ninth Circuit affirmed the roughly $13.8 million fee award in October 2024, calling it “not unreasonably disproportionate,”²³ and affirmed supplemental appellate fees in April 2025.²⁴

The National Abortion Federation brought a separate suit, alleging that CMP representatives signed confidentiality agreements to get into NAF’s 2014 and 2015 annual meetings and then violated them by recording attendees.²⁵ Judge Orrick issued a preliminary injunction in February 2016 barring publication of the recordings, and a permanent injunction followed in April 2021 covering several hundred hours of footage and restricting disclosures to the public, media, and law enforcement. The district court awarded NAF $6.3 million in attorneys’ fees. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the permanent injunction in August 2022, and the Supreme Court denied review on October 2, 2023.²⁶

In May 2017, while the NAF injunction was in force, Daleiden and his criminal defense attorneys posted 144 hours of the enjoined recordings on YouTube, saying the material was needed for his criminal defense. Judge Orrick held Daleiden, CMP, and attorneys Steve Cooley and Brentford Ferreira in civil contempt, calling the move “a fig leaf to cover their plan to violate the court order.”²⁷ In August 2017, the court ordered them to pay nearly $200,000 covering NAF’s security costs and litigation expenses.²⁸

Where Things Stand Now

As of early 2026, Daleiden and Merritt are convicted felons awaiting sentencing in San Francisco Superior Court, with the option to petition for reduction to a misdemeanor if they have complied with their plea terms.¹⁰ CMP remains bound by the permanent injunction barring release of the NAF conference recordings. All Supreme Court avenues on the civil judgments have been exhausted, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed the final tranche of attorneys’ fees in April 2025.²⁴ The organization’s most recent public filing shows it running at a deficit, with negative net assets above $2 million.³

1
U.S. Supreme Court. Center for Medical Progress v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Appendix
2
Media Matters. Troy Newman No Longer Board Member of Center for Medical Progress
3
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. The Center for Medical Progress
4
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Center for Medical Progress
5
Planned Parenthood. Deceptive Videos About Planned Parenthood
6
NPR. Planned Parenthood Says Experts Found Misleading Edits in Videos
7
Politico. Planned Parenthood Undercover Videos Report Finds Manipulation
8
The New York Times. Abortion, Planned Parenthood Videos
9
NPR. In Wake of Videos, Planned Parenthood Investigations Find No Fetal Tissue Sales
10
CalMatters. David Daleiden Planned Parenthood Videos
11
The Guardian. Planned Parenthood Fetal Tissue Payments
12
Science. Fact-Checking Congress’s Fetal Tissue Report
13
Houston Chronicle. Charges Dismissed Against Planned Parenthood Videographers
14
Texas Tribune. Texas Planned Parenthood Abortion Activists Charges
15
CBS News San Francisco. California Attorney General to Investigate Undercover Video Targeting Planned Parenthood
16
Los Angeles Times. Attorney General Seizes Planned Parenthood Videos
17
The Christian Science Monitor. Why California Prosecutors Charged Anti-Abortion Activists Who Secretly Filmed Planned Parenthood
18
California Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta Secures Felony Conviction of David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt
19
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Troy Newman, et al.
20
U.S. Supreme Court. Planned Parenthood v. CMP, Petition for Certiorari
21
Reuters. U.S. Supreme Court Rebuffs Dispute Over Videos Targeting Abortion Providers
22
SCOTUSblog. Center for Medical Progress v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America
23
Bloomberg Law. Planned Parenthood Keeps $14 Million in Attorney Fees on Appeal
24
Justia. Planned Parenthood v. Center for Medical Progress, No. 24-3526
25
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. National Abortion Federation v. Center for Medical Progress, No. 18-17195
26
SCOTUSblog. Center for Medical Progress v. National Abortion Federation
27
SFGate. Antiabortion Activist, Lawyers Held in Contempt
28
CBS News Sacramento. Anti-Abortion Video Fine, David Daleiden