Attorneys for the Thomas More Society have reached a settlement in the lawsuit between David Daleiden and the University of Washington (UW), LifeNews reports.
At issue in the lawsuit are records requested by Daleiden about the UW’s “National Clearinghouse” for fetal tissue and organs from aborted babies. The federal district court approved the settlement yesterday, clearing the way for the end of six years of litigation that included three appeals to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuit was originally filed in August 2016 by an anonymous group of abortion and fetal tissue research employees after Daleiden requested documents about their taxpayer-funded programs at the UW in February 2016.
In the settlement, Daleiden secured an agreement to obtain significant additional public documents related to the UW’s purchase, processing and sale of organs and tissue from aborted human fetuses. Daleiden had sought to have the job titles not redacted from the records, and the settlement agreement provides for those job titles. The Thomas More Society also secured a $30,000 payment for legal fees from the UW, pursuant to a counterclaim against the UW for violations of the Washington Public Records Act.
The settlement requires the UW to provide numerous documents and records related to agreements between the university’s medical and research programs and Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers within a specified period of time.
The Settlement also requires the release of communications and manuals dealing with policies or procedures, and any records dealing with the acquisition or use of human fetal tissue, human fetal organs, human fetal cell products, human fetal placenta, and/or other human conception products from induced abortions, as well as subsequent research, financial records, contracts, grant applications, correspondence, and reports.
Background information on related cases in which the Thomas More Society is representing investigative journalist David Daleiden and his work to expose Planned Parenthood ‘s suspected involvement in the trafficking of body parts of aborted babies can be found here.