Assembly Bill 1671, which would penalize undercover journalism efforts related to the healthcare industry in California—broadly defined to include the bill’s chief architect, Planned Parenthood—could be signed into law at any moment by Gov. Jerry Brown.
AB 1671, drafted after David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress released their undercover videos of Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of fetal body parts and tissues harvested from aborted babies, imposes civil and criminal penalties on the publication of certain conversations with a health care provider. The term “health care provider” was purposely broadly defined to include any employee—or volunteer—of Planned Parenthood.
Additionally, “publication” was broadly defined to include print media, emails, blog posts, text messages, Facebook, and other social media. Each individual publication would be punishable by up to one year in jail and $2,500 in fines. Even the liberal ACLU is opposed to the bill.
According to emails obtained by Life Legal Defense via a public records request, one of AB 1671’s biggest champions was California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is also the Democratic Party’s preferred candidate for U.S. Senate in the upcoming general election. In California’s open primary system, the top two vote-getters—in this case, both Democrats—advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
In a press release Wednesday evening, Life Legal said the emails expose a “disturbing level of cooperation” between Harris’ office and Planned Parenthood’s lobbyists. Planned Parenthood attorney Beth Parker, who is currently representing Planned Parenthood in its RICO lawsuit against Daleiden and CMP, sent an initial draft of the legislation to Special Counsel to the Attorney General Jill Habig—who is also deputy campaign manager of Harris’ senatorial bid—in which it was described as Planned Parenthood’s “top legislative priority.”
The bill had not yet been introduced in the legislature.
Harris’ Special Counsel for Legislation Robert Sumner reached out to Planned Parenthood, offering to be “helpful where I can” with any of the abortion provider’s legislative priorities. Sumner then brought in Habig for a follow up call regarding AB 1671.
According to Life Legal, Planned Parenthood affiliates have donated tens of thousands of dollars to Harris’ campaigns, including her current Senate campaign. Meanwhile, she has been investigating Daleiden and the CMP, but has not looked into Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in fetal tissue.
“Instead of investigating the abortion industry’s trade in fetal body parts, California Attorney General Kamala Harris is using valuable taxpayer resources to protect Planned Parenthood’s financial interests by criminalizing whistleblower videos,” Life Legal Executive Director Alexandra Snyder said. “The bill she crafted—AB 1671—is a flagrant violation of First Amendment free speech rights, yet Harris is willing to ignore the Constitution in order to provide a safe harbor for Planned Parenthood’s illegal activities.”
