StemExpress sues pro-life group, gets temporary restraining order on videos

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Center for Medical Progress from releasing any videos of the leaders of the now-infamous StemExpress fetal tissue procurement agency.

An Associated Press story reports the pro-life group must not release “any video of three high-ranking StemExpress officials taken at a restaurant in May. It appears to be the first legal action prohibiting the release of a video from the organization.”

A statement today by CMP countered by saying:

StemExpress, a for-profit company partnered with over 30 abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood, to harvest and sell aborted baby parts and provide a “financial benefit” to Planned Parenthood clinics, is attempting to use meritless litigation to cover-up this illegal baby parts trade, suppress free speech, and silence the citizen press reporting on issues of burning concern to the American public.

They are not succeeding—their initial petition was rejected by the court, and their second petition was eviscerated to a narrow and contingent order about an alleged recording pending CMP’s opportunity to respond. The Center for Medical Progress follows all applicable laws in the course of our investigative journalism work and will contest all attempts from Planned Parenthood and their allies to silence our First Amendment rights and suppress investigative journalism.

Yesterday, CMP released its third video in which Holly O’Donnell, a phlebotomist and former StemExpress fetal tissue worker, who went on-camera saying, “We were asked to procure certain tissues like brain, liver, thymus, pancreas, heart, lungs, and pretty much anything on the fetus.” Her willingness to speak out in first-person testimony of what happened at StemExpress was the first time a worker from the fetal tissue procurement agency had spoken out. It seems that bothered StemExpress so much, it took CMP to court. The judge issued the restraining order until a hearing, set for August 19.

This order does not apply to other video contents, and may actually hasten other content in light of litigation-happy abortion profiteers.

However, the videos indicting StemExpress and its practices in the court of public opinion probably carries more weight right now than this singular lawsuit, which says StemExpress probably has more to hide.