The Center for Medical Progress was in the news over stories about secret recordings it made of officials from Planned Parenthood talking about use of fetal tissues. Such recordings energized many on the right while some on the left called them a set-up.
Here are six facts about the Center for Medical Progress.
1. The Center for Medical Progress describes itself as “a group of citizen journalists dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances,”
according to its website.
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“We are concerned about contemporary bioethical issues that impact human dignity, and we oppose any interventions, procedures, and experiments that exploit the unequal legal status of any class of human beings,” it said.
2. The group was founded in 2013 by David Daleiden. It is a pro-life organization that was formed to work undercover to obtain secret recordings of Planned Parenthood clinics where abortions often occur,
according to NPR.
3. Daleiden had previously worked for the pro-life activist group Live Action,
Yahoo reported, noting he had attended Claremont McKenna College in California.
Noted one friend of Daleiden, Charles "Chuck" Johnson, to Yahoo: "To the abortion industry: David is your worst nightmare. He knows all of your weaknesses and he has dedicated his life to finding them. He won’t quit. You’ll have to kill him.”
4. The Center for Medical Progress is funded and advised by the anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue,
according to The Daily Beast.
The organization’s blog, Twitter page and Facebook page were started in 2015, and a cached description from it website describes it as "dedicated to informing and educating both the lay public and the scientific community about the latest advances in regenerative medicine, cell-based therapies, and related disciplines,”
Slate reported.
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5. In 2013, the IRS granted CMP tax-exempt status as a biomedical charity,
The Huffington Post reported, noting it is possible early donors to the group may have been misled about its mission.
6. In addition to Daleiden, the CMP's board includes Albin Rhomberg and Troy Newman. Newman, who serves as the CMP's secretary also works as president of Operation Rescue,
according to The Nation.
Rhomberg "spearheaded a campaign in 2006 to get mandatory parental notification for minors seeking abortion into law in California. (The ballot measure failed.)," The Nation said.
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