Court says state can ban sale of aborted babies

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The ripple effects of a series of undercover videos showing abortionists negotiating for higher pay for the body parts of unborn babies continue.

An appeals court now has affirmed the constitutionality of an Indiana law making the body-parts trade illegal.

The decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, posted by Courthouse News, removed a trial judge's order blocking the Indiana law.

The University of Indiana sued the states because it has been using the tissue for research.

The law states a "person who intentionally acquires, receives, sells, or transfers fetal tissue commits unlawful transfer of fetal tissue, a level 5 felony."

Appeals Judge Frank Easterbrook said: "The district court … held that the words 'acquires,' 'receives,' and 'transfers,' and the phrase 'any other part,' are too uncertain to have legal force. If that is right, then big chunks of the legal system are invalid, because those words are ubiquitous in statutes, regulations, and judicial opinions."

University officials had sued the prosecutors in Marion and Monroe counties three years ago, claiming researchers could face prison terms for violating that law as they pursued their various research projects.

Courthouse News reported one professor "has been using fetal tissue in his research since 2011 as a control to understand differences between and healthy and unhealthy brains."

University officials claimed it was a violation of the First Amendment.

However, the judge said the university has no right to treat the state's adopted rules "as equivalent to prohibitions of speech."

And the judges noted while the university stressed that "a fetus is not a 'person.'"

"That does not eliminate the possibility of serious debate about when, if at all, it is ethical to perform medical experiments on aborted fetal tissue."

The judgment ruled against the university and its professors on their claims of violations of the First Amendment, 14th Amendment, the Takings Clause, the Commerce Clause and more.

And the majority ruling questioned the motives.

"Plaintiffs believe that, if they sue in federal court before the state judiciary has had a chance to interpret state law, they can ensure that the state never gets that chance."

WND has reported multiple times on the undercover investigation by the Center for Medical Progress in 2015 that captured admissions by Planned Parenthood abortionists of their profit motive.

Last month, WND reported, Operation Rescue said dozens of the Planned Parenthood executives caught on camera have left the corporation.

The videos show the executives insisting on higher payments for the body parts and their willingness to adjust abortion procedures to salvage specific parts desired by researchers.

The videos caused an immediate backlash against the abortion industry, with Senate and House investigations recommending investigation by law enforcement.

A pro-abortion lobbyist sued, claiming the videos were deceptively edited, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case.

Abortion industry components sued CMP and the undercover journalists who produced the videos, which mostly were made in public places like restaurants. Several cases continue, including in California, where a pro-abortion attorney general is prosecuting the video makers for allegedly violating privacy rules.

The videos are available online, along with transcripts of the comments from the abortionists.

In addition, a report by Operation Rescue's Cheryl Sullenger finds that dozens of the executives in the videos are no longer with Planned Parenthood.

"Pretty much every one who had anything to do with the trafficking of aborted babies is gone from Planned Parenthood, including their CEO Cecile Richards," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue.

See a CMP video about Planned Parenthood skirting federal law: