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A Texas grand jury has decided not to indict a branch of reproductive organization Planned Parenthood after it was wrongly accused of selling fetal tissue in an anti-abortion propaganda video.
The Houston grand jury ruled Monday that the health group would not be tried on criminal charges, but instead indicted two pro-life activists for using fraudulent IDs to covertly film the video.
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David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt will be tried for tampering with a governmental record, while Daleiden was also charged with breaking a law that bans buying and selling human organs.
It is believed that this is related to trying to frame Planned Parenthood for the viral video.
“As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us,” said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson.
The sensational footage falsely showed Planned Parenthood workers offering fetal tissue for sale and became a point of reference for the highly conservative anti-abortion campaign in the U.S.
It was used as an example by Republican Governor Greg Abbott to justify tightening restrictions on abortion providers, who spoke of the "gruesome harvesting of baby body parts."
No evidence was provided by Texas to back the claim.
Since 2013, anti-abortion laws in Texas require all clinics to meet certain health standards, which has led to the closure of more than half of the 41 centers that were open for abortion.
The clinic closures have affected vast numbers of people, as Texas, with its population of 26 million, has 5.4 million women of reproductive age, the second highest of this demographic of all the states.
Another 14 remain open, mostly in big cities, which make abortions largely inaccessible for Latina women who live closer to the border with Mexico.
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