Story highlights
- The Center for Medical Progress recorded meetings of the National Abortion Federation, an international organization of abortion providers, in 2014 and 2015
- CMP, which gained fame over the summer for releasing edited footage that purportedly showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue, says it will appeal the decision
Washington (CNN)A federal judge in California has extended a restraining order against an anti-abortion group known for its Planned Parenthood videos after it attempted to release secretly-recorded footage of a different abortion group.
The Center for Medical Progress recorded meetings of the National Abortion Federation, an international organization of abortion providers, in 2014 and 2015. But District Judge William H. Orrick III in San Francisco, who first barred the release of the footage last July, said Friday that CMP violated the abortion group's right to privacy.
"It should be said that the majority of the recordings lack much public interest, and despite the misleading contentions of defendants, there is little that is new in the remainder of the recordings," Orrick wrote in the court's order. "Weighed against that public interest are NAF's and its members' legitimate interests in their rights to privacy, security, and association by maintaining the confidentiality of their presentations and conversations at NAF Annual Meetings. The balance is strongly in NAF's favor."
CMP, which gained fame over the summer for releasing edited footage that purportedly showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue, says it will appeal Orrick's decision.
Texas has long been a hotbed of abortion protests, but the issue drew national attention in 2013 when new abortion restrictions were debated and then passed in the legislature. Above, opponents of the measure walk around supporters at the Capitol.
Hide Caption
1 of 29
It took not one but two special leglative sessions for the measure to pass; the first attempt was blocked following a lengthy filibuster by sneaker-wearing Sen. Wendy Davis in a near empty Senate chamber.
Hide Caption
2 of 29
In preparation for hours of speaking, Davis wore a pair of pink sneakers in place of her dress shoes. Her shoes became a symbol for abortion-rights activists.
Hide Caption
3 of 29
Opponents of the bill sat in the gallery holding hangers. Among the changes Davis and others opposed: requiring abortion clinics to become ambulatory surgical center and requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
Hide Caption
4 of 29
Davis said she was speaking for families whose "personal relationships with their doctor and their Creator" would be violated by the bill.
Hide Caption
5 of 29
Abortion-rights advocates celebrate the defeat of the measure on June 25, 2013, the last day of that summer's first special legislative session. Davis' filibuster, combined with protests by supporters, helped defeat the legislation at midnight.
Hide Caption
6 of 29
As the second session was convened on July 1, 2013, Davis led a rally in support of women's rights to reproductive decisions.
Hide Caption
7 of 29
Abortion-rights demonstrators gather at the state Capitol on July 1, 2013.
Hide Caption
8 of 29
Supporters on both sides of the issue crowd into the rotunda of the state Capitol on July 1, 2013.
Hide Caption
9 of 29
Anti-abortion demonstrators taped the word "life" over their mouths as they stood in the rotunda of the state Capitol in July 2013.
Hide Caption
10 of 29
Opponents of an abortion bill yell outside the Capitol in July 2013.
Hide Caption
11 of 29
Opponents of an abortion bill chant outside a hearing at the Capitol in July 2013.
Hide Caption
12 of 29
Abortion-rights activists march from the Capitol in July 2013.
Hide Caption
13 of 29
Supporters of an abortion bill listen to speakers at a July 2013 rally organized by the Texas Right to Life Organization.
Hide Caption
14 of 29
Anti-abortion activist Pamela Whitehead, right, argues with an abortion-rights activist in July 2013.
Hide Caption
15 of 29
Supporters of the measure react in the gallery of the Texas House after it was provisionally approved during the second special session on July 9, 2013.
Hide Caption
16 of 29
Opponents of the bill yell outside the Texas House after the bill was provisionally approved.
Hide Caption
17 of 29
On October 28, 2013, the day before the legislation was scheduled to take effect, a federal judge ruled that parts of it were unconstitutional. Above, state troopers look on as a group in Austin, Texas, protests the law.
Hide Caption
18 of 29
Three days later, on October 31, 2013, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the federal district judge's decision. Here, a woman holds her rosary beads as she prays on the sidewalk across the street from Planned Parenthood in Fort Worth, Texas.
Hide Caption
19 of 29
As the Texas case wound its way through the courts, a group from Texas joined an anti-abortion demonstration on the Mall in Washington on January 22, 2014 -- the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
Hide Caption
20 of 29
Meanwhile, Wendy Davis' 2013 filibuster propelled her to the Democratic Party's nomination for Texas governor. Here, she listens as Houston City Council member Ellen Cohen speaks about the law in October 2014, just weeks before Davis was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott.
Hide Caption
21 of 29
On the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- January 22, 2015 -- Evan Keimig of Houston, left, and Brandan Solcher of Sugarland, Texas, wear Vatican flags in front of the U.S. Capitol following a "March for Life" protest.
Hide Caption
22 of 29
The following month, college students and abortion-rights activists rallied on the steps of the Texas Capitol as the legislature met on February 26, 2015.
Hide Caption
23 of 29
In July 2015, Erica Canaut, center, and other anti-abortion activists rallied on the steps of the Texas Capitol to condemn the use of tissue samples obtained from aborted fetuses for medical research.
Hide Caption
24 of 29
Texas again became the focus of the abortion debate after a group produced a series of videos depicting Planned Parenthood officials appearing to talk about the price of fetal tissue. But an investigation into the allegations backfired on the accusers when prosecutors cleared Planned Parenthood -- and instead indicted two people involved in making the video. Above, one of the two defendants, Sandra Merritt, right, hugs a supporter after appearing in court to post bond on February 3, 2016.
Hide Caption
25 of 29
David Daleiden, the other defendant in the indictment over the videos, speaks to media and supporters after turning himself in the following day in Houston. Daleiden and Sandra Merritt are charged with tampering with a governmental record, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Hide Caption
26 of 29
With the Supreme Court hearing on the Texas law approaching, Whole Woman's Health -- which is challenging the law -- held a gathering at a San Antonio clinic on February 9, 2016.
Hide Caption
27 of 29
In a dramatic ruling, the Supreme Court on June 27 threw out a Texas abortion access law in a victory to supporters of abortion rights who argued it would have shuttered all but a handful of clinics in the state.
Hide Caption
28 of 29
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been a proponent of new rules, slated to take effect December 9, that would require health care facilities to bury or cremate fetal remains. "I believe it is imperative to establish higher standards that reflect our respect for the sanctity of life," Abbott said in fundraising email.
Hide Caption
29 of 29
"Similar to other corporate outlaws, Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation continue to use oppressive litigation to suppress the evidence of their corrupt baby-parts-for-profit scheme," the group said in a statement. "We will appeal this ruling and seek all legal remedies to vindicate our free speech rights, and those of all Americans, against Planned Parenthood and NAF's extremist attacks on the First Amendment."
David Daleiden, the project leader of the Center for Medical Progress, previously called the National Abortion Federation, to which multiple Planned Parenthood affiliates belong, a "criminal organization."
Planned Parenthood last month sued CMP, and Daleiden was recently indicted on several charges stemming from CMP's Planned Parenthood recordings, including tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony, in Harris County, Texas.
Daleiden turned himself into authorities Thursday and posted bond, according to Harris County District Attorney spokesman Jeff McShan.
A hearing has been scheduled in the Texas case for March 28.
