A jury in California hearing a $16 million civil damage case filed by abortionists against undercover journalists who exposed their profiting from the body parts of unborn babies was shown a video report industry.
But it wasn't among the videos released in 2015 by the Center for Medical Progress.
This one was of a 2000 report by the ABC News show "20/20" called "Parts for Sale."
See the video:
In the segment, Chris Wallace says a "hidden camera investigation has found a thriving industry, in which aborted fetuses women donate to help medical research are being marketed for hundreds – even thousands of dollars."
The so-called consent obtained from the women, ABC said, is filled with "legal mumbo jumbo," meaning the women sign without knowing their babies will be sold for research.
The lawsuit targets CMP and its founder, David Daleiden, and and co-worker Sandra Merritt.
They are defended by a coalition of legal teams, including Liberty Counsel, the American Center for Law and Justice, Life Legal Defense Fund, Freedom of Conscience Defense Foundation and the Thomas More Law Center.
Liberty Counsel has been asking the judge for weeks for permission to show the ABC video, which made many of the same discoveries spotlighted by Merritt and Daleiden in 2015.
"The documentary revealed that abortion procedures were altered in order to harvest intact body parts that sell for higher prices, which the investigation states is illegal," Liberty Counsel said. "In fact, after this report was released and Planned Parenthood was not further investigated for the unethical and illegal profiting from human baby body parts, Merritt and Daleiden reasonably believed additional investigation was needed.
"The ABC News 20/20 correspondent ran several extended clips from hidden camera footage where two producers met with a pathologist, Dr. Miles Jones, who over lobster bisque and roast duck, explained the business of selling baby body parts. This footage is similar to CMP’s first video where former Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Dr. Deborah Nucatola sipped wine while eating a salad and casually talked openly for third parties to hear how she positions the baby in the womb and then crushes above and below the thorax to harvest intact hearts, lungs, and livers," Liberty Counsel said.
"Dr. Jones revealed that an average fetal tissue sample or organ costs him just $50, plus overhead. However, he charged an average of $250 and he could make $2,500 on one aborted baby. At one point in the footage, Jones also blatantly referred to his operation as a 'golden goose,' adding that 'you can certainly keep it well-fed, and it will lay lots of eggs for you.'"
He boasted of income projections of $50,000 a week.
"Wallace also interviewed bioethicist Arthur Caplan, who viewed the undercover footage and denounced Jones' 'trading in body parts.' Caplan underlined that 'it's flat-out buying and selling, It's flat-out profiteering. It's flat-out saying, 'I'm going to charge you whatever you're going to pay me,'" Liberty Counsel said.
Whistleblowers, as CMP later confirmed, said abortionists "altered" abortions "to get better tissue."
Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, said Merritte "used the same lawful recording methods in public places as the journalists in the ABC News '20/20' investigation."
"She did nothing wrong. Planned Parenthood is using the courts to abuse and silence Sandra Merritt and David Daleiden," he said. "From the beginning we have been thwarted in our defense because the court has refused to allow the defense to show the videos that reveal the horrible trafficking in baby body parts. This one video from 2000 shows that this horrible practice of harvesting baby body parts has been ongoing for decades. It is time to end this horror."
WND reported a "game-changer" in the case, when, for the first time, jurors were allowed to see a portion of the CMP videos.
The videos -- featuring Planned Parenthood executives in 2015 making admissions on hidden camera -- caused a furor that caught the attention of lawmakers.
California regulators shut down businesses that had been buying body parts, and two congressional committees referred companies and individuals for possible prosecution. The committees cited a federal law that bans profiting from the sale of body parts.
Operation Rescue, whose president Troy Newman is being sued as a board member of CMP, provided a report from the trial.
"The jury was stunned. It was the first time during the three-week trial that they had seen any of the debated video. It was a game changer and a huge victory for the pro-life defendants. Planned Parenthood's star witness turned into a star witness for the defense. It could not have been a better day."
One juror was reported to have teared up and a second juror held his head in his hands during the playing of the video.
A video on the court testimony:
Judge William Orrick is hearing the case under a cloud.
He was on the board of a community organization and negotiated a no-fee lease for Planned Parenthood in the community center he helped run.
The judge previously refused the request of defendants to recuse himself from the case because of his conflict of interest.
At trial, he repeatedly has prevented evidence helpful to the defendants from being admitted.
Here are two of the videos released by CMP:
One of the videos that has been suppressed by Orrick includes more information about the body-parts industry.
It was available only briefly online.
However, transcripts of comments by abortion executives have been preserved.
Lisa Harris, medical director for Planned Parenthood of Michigan: "Our stories don't really have a place in a lot of pro-choice discourse and rhetoric, right? The heads that get stuck that we can't get out. The hemorrhages that we manage."
Susan Robinson of Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte in San Jose, California: "The fetus is a tough little object and taking it apart, I mean taking it apart, on day one is very difficult.'
Talcott Camp, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Health Freedom Project: "I'm like oh my god! I get it! When the skull is broken, that's really sharp. I get it, I understand why people are talking about getting that skull out, that calvarium."
Deborah Nucatola, senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood Federation of America: "You know, sometimes she'll tell me she wants brain, and we'll, you know, leave the calvarium in 'til last, and then try to basically take it, or actually, you know, catch everything, and even keep it separate from the rest of the tissue so it doesn't get lost."
Uta Landy, founder of the Consortium of Abortion providers for Planned Parenthood: "An eyeball just fell down into my lap, and that is gross."
Her comment was followed by raucous laughter from the abortionists at the meeting of the National Abortion Federation.
In December 2015, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives referred the Planned Parenthood Federation of American and six regional affiliates to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.
Operation Rescue noted little attention was given to the issue under President Obama, but after Donald Trump moved into office, the investigations "appeared to show signs of life."
See a CMP video about Planned Parenthood skirting federal law:
The "Lamborghini" executive:
Paying attention to who's in the room when infants are born alive:
Altering abortion procedures:
Selling body parts a "valid exchange":