Distributing secret recordings involving healthcare conversations will become a crime in California in 2017, under a new law inspired by the high-profile case involving videos of Planned Parenthood employees discussing abortion procedures.
Gov. Jerry Brown's signature on Assembly Bill 1671 came after last-minute changes to the bill seeking to ensure journalists wouldn't be prosecuted for the use of video, audio or transcripts they are given but did not help to record.
Existing law focuses on the illegal nature of the recording itself, not what happens to any copies of the recording.
Planned Parenthood, a sponsor of AB 1671, argued that the new law is necessary in the wake of the controversial videos taped by David Daleiden and other anti-abortion activists that purport to show Planned Parenthood employees illegally trafficking in fetal tissue.
The organization, which has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing, has insisted that the videos were manipulated and sparked a number of threats made to their medical providers and clinics.
In an emailed statement, Daleiden said the conversations recorded were not confidential. "California's existing recording law and the new distribution provision are simply inapplicable to our work," he said.
News organizations including the California Newspapers Publishers Assn. had opposed earlier versions of AB 1671. Late amendments sought to assure that only those involved in actually making the recording are subject to criminal prosecution for distributing it — not those, including reporters, who may receive it from another source.
"Gov. Brown sent a clear message to anti-abortion extremists that you cannot break the law in California or you will be held accountable," said Kathy Kneer, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, in a statement on the signing of AB 1671.
Update 3:45 p.m. This story has been updated with comment from David Daleiden.
