Final charge dropped in yearslong Harris-era case against pro-life activist
A California judge on Wednesday cleared the final legal hurdle in the long-running prosecution of a pro-life activist who alleged in undercover videos that abortion providers were illegally profiting from fetal tissue.
"As promised, the final charge has been DISMISSED and the case completely expunged— —after a couple months' administrative delay, and a truly bizarre last-minute 'April Fool's' attempt by @PPFA and @NatAbortionFed to overturn the State's agreement," Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden tweeted on Wednesday, including a previous statement made on the reached settlement.
Daleiden, who alongside undercover journalist Sandra Merritt, faced 15 charges filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in 2017. The charges stemmed from an investigation prompted by former California Attorney General Harris' office, who left her position as state attorney general in January 2017 after being elected to the U.S. Senate.
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In January 2025, Daleiden and Merritt each pleaded no contest to one felony count under a settlement with California, which dismissed the remaining charges. Under the agreement, they faced no jail time, fines, or admissions of wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, San Francisco County Judge Brian Ferrall dropped the last charge against Daleiden and expunged the case.
In a statement made last year, Daleiden said that the end of "the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris [is] a huge victory for my investigative reporting for the public's right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted baby body parts."
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In January 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta cast the plea deal as a victory for reproductive healthcare access, saying in a press release that his office had secured felony convictions. Under the agreement, Daleiden and Merritt were required to have no contact with, stay away from, and not name the victims in the recordings, and to obey all laws, including by not making additional unlawful recordings.
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"While the Trump Administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare," Bonta said in a statement at the time. "We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means."
Daleiden released the videos in 2015 of Merritt having conversations with Planned Parenthood leadership and abortionist doctors, who described procedures ensuring fetal organs remain intact and can be harvested.
In response to the videos, Harris' office opened an investigation into Daleiden and Merritt for violating the state's recording law. In April 2016, California's Department of Justice issued a search warrant and raided Daleiden's Huntington Beach apartment, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Daleiden accused the raid of being politically motivated at the time.
The release of the videos pushed the Senate Judiciary Committee to call the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood Federation of America. No charges were ever brought against the nation's largest abortion provider.
Daleiden was sued by Planned Parenthood for damages and was ordered in 2019 to pay $2.4 million in damages and more than $13 million in attorney’s fees.
Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood, Harris, Daleiden, and the National Abortion Federation for comment.