Researchers and employees for a University of Washington lab that uses tissues obtained from abortions and other procedures have filed a lawsuit to prevent their names from being released to anti-abortion activists.
The Seattle Times reports employees at the Birth Defects Research Center say they fear harassment and violence if their names are given to anti-abortion group The Center for Medical Progress.
The founder, David Daleiden, is responsible for the release of “sting” videos about fetal-tissue experimentation and Planned Parenthood that resulted in a national uproar.
Daleiden and Zachary Freeman with the anti-abortion Family Policy Institute of Washington are named as defendants in the federal class-action lawsuit since they are seeking release of the records through the Washington Public Records Act. The university is named as a defendant as the agency preparing to release the information.
The lawsuit claims to represent up to 150 plaintiffs in Washington and elsewhere.
Are they using taxpayer money? Then they have to provide the names.