Planned Parenthood was awarded as much as $2.2 million in damages on Friday, after a federal jury in San Francisco ruled that an anti-abortion activist had broken federal and state laws when he secretly recorded workers for the organization.
The activist, David R. Daleiden, recorded the videos in 2015 in an attempt to show that Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue, a claim that created a political uproar and mobilized conservatives against the organization.
Daleiden, leader of a group called the Center for Medical Progress, posed as a biotechnology representative to make the recordings. The jury found that he had trespassed on private property and committed fraud, according to court papers.