CMP Requests Judge’s Removal over Pro-Abortion Stance

Samantha Gobba | WORLD News Service | Updated: Jun 16, 2017

CMP Requests Judge’s Removal over Pro-Abortion Stance

-Lawyers for the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) want the judge presiding over an ongoing lawsuit removed from the case because of his potential pro-abortion conflicts of interest.

Judge William Orrick is presiding over a lawsuit filed by the National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood against CMP over undercover videos the abortion groups say CMP filmed illegally. Last month, Orrick ordered one of the videos removed from YouTube, saying it was under temporary injunction.

CMP’s request to remove Orrick claims he has been dishonest about his connections to Planned Parenthood through Good Samaritan Family Resource Center (GSFRC) in San Francisco. The facility provides space for a Planned Parenthood abortion center. Orrick claimed to have severed ties with GSFRC, but CMP discovered he has remained a board member and continues to give the organization large sums of money.

In 2001, Orrick served as secretary of GSFRC’s board, making him part of a “key partnership” with Planned Parenthood, according to CMP’s complaint.

CMP also discovered that Orrick’s wife, Caroline Orrick, is an outspoken proponent of Planned Parenthood on social media, recently adding the phrase “I stand with Planned Parenthood” to her Facebook profile picture and “liking” posts by the National Abortion Rights Action League and Keep America Pro-Choice pages.

By law, Orrick must recuse himself if “a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts” would question his impartiality. Orrick has denied a conflict of interest but deferred to the clerk to find another judge to make that call. The clerk picked Judge James Donato, a district judge nominated in 2014 by then-president Barack Obama, to rule on CMP’s request.
 

 

Courtesy: WORLD News Service

Photo courtesy: Getty Images

Publication date: June 16, 2017



CMP Requests Judge’s Removal over Pro-Abortion Stance