More proof that those on the social Left view the First Amendment and freedom of speech with contempt. A little prelude and background: Two Pro-Lifers went undercover to expose the sale of baby body parts from Planned Parenthood clinics. The revelations led to a media firestorm and several congressional investigations. The state of California was outraged at the two Pro-Lifers for letting the truth leak out, so the two were prosecuted on trumped up charges, which were later dismissed. However, those in the California legislature wanted to make sure if there was ever a repeat of this situation they would have actual laws that could be used to punish people who took it open themselves to uncover the truth. California passed a law to cover up for Planned Parenthood From the Washington Post: The California legislature is near final approval of a bill that would make it a crime, punishable by a jail sentence, to carry out and distribute undercover video or audio stings against Planned Parenthood and other health-care groups. The measure was inspired by two California antiabortion activists who made undercover videos of themselves trying to buy fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood. The project prompted multiple investigations by Congress and states. The bill was approved by the California state Senate and has broad support in the Assembly, which passed an earlier version and is expected to concur in several Senate amendments before sending it to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. California law, like laws in other states, already bars use of an electronic device to listen in on or record people without their permission. The new measure, authored by Assembly member Jimmy Gomez with the backing of Planned Parenthood, protects health-care providers in particular and would prohibit the intentional disclosure of such recordings, video or audio, without the consent of all parties “in any forum, including, but not limited to, Internet Web sites and social media, or for any purpose …” Violation would be punishable by a fine, a one-year jail term or both for a first offense and by a potentially greater fine, a one-year jail term or both for subsequent offenses. “After the video smear campaign last summer, we experienced a ninefold increase in violence against our providers and our health centers,” Beth Parker, chief legal counsel for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, told the Los Angeles Times. “With the Internet and the tremendous wildfire nature in which news can be spread now through social media, we need to have a crime against distribution by those in particular who did the illegal recording,” Parker said. The legislation is opposed not only by antiabortion groups but by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for free speech and civil liberties in the digital world. The Los Angeles Times editorialized against it as well, noting that the prohibition “would apply regardless of what the healthcare provider was discussing — not just sensitive details about patients, but also private conversations about fees and billing practices, drug marketers, or plans for the weekend. Why a healthcare provider merits special protection even when discussing things that don’t involve patient privacy is mystifying.” After an outcry from news organizations, which feared the measure would be applied to them, it was amended to make it clear that news organizations would not be prosecuted if they did not participate in the recording. The antiabortion activists, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, used hidden cameras, fake driver’s licenses and mock Facebook pages in an attempt to prove that Planned Parenthood sells fetal tissue left over from abortions for scientific research. Daleiden spent 30 months posing as a representative from a tissue procurement company, lunching with top Planned Parenthood executives and gaining access to private areas of clinics. Last summer, he released several edited videos as well as longer footage of his secretly recorded encounters. And yes, the state did end up passing the law, despite some believing they might not do it: New California Law Protecting Planned Parenthood may "Silence Whistleblowers" A few weeks ago, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1671 into law, criminalizing the recording or distribution of conversations with healthcare providers. Because existing laws in California already criminalize recording private conversations, many view the bill as an assault on journalism and free speech. https://californiafamily.org/2016/n...lanned-parenthood-may-silence-whistleblowers/ John-Michael Seibler, a legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, says the California law is an example of "overcriminalization". He writes: Overcriminalization occurs when lawmakers try to punish people who make mistakes — often without any intent of breaking a law — with harsh criminal penalties. It’s a mindset that has helped create almost 5000 criminal laws — and 300,000 regulations carrying criminal penalties — at the federal level alone... The law effectively criminalizes whistleblowing by "a patient who sees her doctor handing out opioid prescriptions like candy, or a farm worker who catches a veterinarian approving a sick cow for the slaughterhouse..." Planned Parenthood’s success at raising the criminal penalties and civil liability of potential undercover journalists and whistleblowers will likely embolden other politically favored groups to abuse criminal law by urging lawmakers to craft new criminal laws designed to cater to and protect them.
I hope someone challenges this law in federal court. I doubt it can survive 1st Amendment scrutiny. Besides free speech, it treads heavily on freedom of the press, despite its assurances that "news organizations" would not be prosecuted. That might be because they aren't "health centers", they are "murder centers". While I don't approve of violence against Planned Parenthood clinics or abortion doctors, we really ought to label them what they are, centers for the murder and disposal of unborn children. I'm guessing this movie would fall victim to the California law and then some. For those of you who like to thumb your nose at censorship, Unplanned has now been banned in Canada, so I urge you to go see it just out of spite.
