Appeals Court Refuses To Toss Planned Parenthood Video Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A U.S. appeals court has refused to dismiss a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood over videos that a group says show employees of the organization illegally selling parts of aborted fetuses.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld a lower court's ruling that allowed racketeering and other claims by Planned Parenthood against the Center for Medical Progress to proceed.

Planned Parenthood says the center surreptitiously accessed its conferences to gain meetings with its staff and create deceptively edited and false videos that were posted online.

Two of the activists who recorded the videos, David Daleiden of Davis, California, and Sandra Merritt of San Jose, were charged with 15 felonies.

Planned Parenthood denied wrongdoing in connection with its fetal tissue practices.

The videos stoked the American abortion debate when they were released in 2015 and increased Congressional scrutiny of Planned Parenthood.

An email to a law firm representing the center was not immediately returned.