Northland Family Planning Centers Forced to Disclose Shocking Email Messages

Contact: Gregg Cunningham, The Center For Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR), 714-240-6976, 714-240-6976 cell, cbr@cbrinfo.org

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- CBR recently edited abortion video footage into an abortion industry infomercial and titled the resulting production Angel of Light, which can be viewed online. As a consequence, we were sued by the late-term (24 week) abortion business which owns the copyright to that infomercial in a case titled Northland Family Planning Clinic, Inc. v. The Center For Bio-Ethical Reform, 2011, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Southern Division. The Plaintiff, a chain of Michigan abortion clinics, claim that CBR has actionably damaged their businesses and injured their reputations by exposing the fraud through which they deceive and exploit vulnerable young mothers and poorly informed voters.

As a result of Northland's ill-advised lawsuit, CBR has forced the Plaintiff's abortion clinics to release email messages which shed light on their outrage at having their false advertising exposed and reveal their belief that their predatory practices should be immune from public criticism. Northland's owner, Renee Chelian, received an email message from another "Abortion Care Network" abortionist who told her our Angel of Light video "... holds you up to public scorn and ridicule and demeans your reputation ...."

Ms. Chelian's reputation has indeed been "ridiculed and demeaned," but it is abortion video, and not CBR, which damages her reputation. She replies that after seeing our Angel of Light video, "I am sick to my stomach ...." If she really believes that abortion is, as her narrator says, "the best you can do," why would she be "sick" that we let her potential clients see what it looks like? Ms. Chelian then added that "I am done crying now and just need to move forward but these people are so hateful and disrespectful I can't stand it." But how is it hateful for CBR to show abortions when Northland's infomercial says abortions are a "courageous" decision?

In another email message Renee Chelian tells this same abortionist that "I know that they [CBR] preach to their own choir but I am worried about this." She then admits that the source of her worry is the possibility that CBR will use our Angel of Light video for "... anti-D&E legislation." The term "D&E" refers to dilatation and extraction (or evacuation) abortions in which the arms and legs of babies are torn off and removed one appendage at a time. The baby sinks into shock and bleeds to death. She explains that "They [anti-abortion activists] are looking for new ammunition since PBA [partial-birth abortion] is pretty much done." Precisely. And Northland's lawsuit is giving CBR the perfect forum in which to use that "ammunition."

Renee Chelian ends by conceding that "... this just makes me sick. But by now I have spent several hours crying and being miserable so I am putting on my big girl underpants and getting over it." Ms. Chelian's "underpants" are not the sort of word picture over which we are inclined to linger, but she is right to fear a political backlash as more and more voters see our Angel of Light video. D&E is a viciously savage procedure and most voters who see it aren't likely to think it should be lawful.

At another point, the narrator of the Northland infomercial we mocked forwarded a message to Ms. Chelian which said: "... it's despicable what Gregg Cunningham, CBR did ...." How can it be "despicable" to show the public something which Northland's infomercial says it is an "honor" to do? Another abortionist sent Ms. Chelian a similar message (with copies to the Abortion Care Network) saying: "I also watched [the Angel of Light video] and it was so painful to see such a sincere and good piece of work treated so shabbily. It's really hard to have to confront these things, emotionally big downers." It apparently isn't an "emotional downer" to kill these babies -- just to be caught lying about killing them.

Renee Chelian then repeats that "I am sick to my stomach as are my entire staff." Why would showing abortion sicken her if abortion is, as her infomercial claims, a "thoughtful" decision? She also says: "This is just wrong and hard at so many levels" and that "This is the second time we have been attacked by an anti-abortion group for this video." Ms. demands the right to mislead and prey upon and victimize vulnerable young women -- and do so with impunity. She won't get impunity from CBR. She may have a legal right to live in a twisted fantasy world which transforms the horror of abortion into an act of virtue, but she has no moral right to fraudulently lure others in behind her. Her infomercial says abortion is a "normal experience" and "sacred," and uses some variant of the word "good" eighteen times to describe it. No wonder Renee Chelian was furious that we showed abortion every time she lied about it.

Ms. Chelian then reveals that "There is a team of four attorneys working on this [CBR lawsuit]" for Northland and that these lawyers will immediately "ask for an injunction" to force CBR to take down our Angel of Light video. Her lawyers apparently told her that her case was too weak to warrant an injunction because they never petitioned for one. A filing of that sort would risk the embarrassment of the court's virtually certain rejection of Ms. Chelian's request. That is apparently why Northland has still filed no petition for injunctive relief, despite CBR's repeated refusal to stop posting our Angel of Light mock-u-mentary video.

Ms. Chelian concludes one email message with a description of "... the horrible anxiety about what to do and worrying that it would be bigger and more scary than what we face every day." She has every reason to be "horribly anxious" that she can no longer use the "aroma therapy" and "soft lighting" and "relaxing music" to make her slaughterhouse sound like a day spa. She also expresses the hope that she can "... just end this easily and quickly." CBR Director Gregg Cunningham announced today that "It's too late for 'easily and quickly' now."

In paragraph 37 of their Complaint, Northland speculates that "tens of thousands" of viewers have now seen our exposé video, on our site and many others. By now the number is far higher. In paragraph 25 the Plaintiff says YouTube.com removed the initial concept version of our Angel of Light parody with the explanation that "This video ... [is] a violation of YouTube's policy on shocking and disgusting content." Our video is "shocking and disgusting" because abortion is shocking and disgusting.

In paragraph 48 of their Complaint, the Plaintiff alleges that as a consequence of our parody video, "... Northland has been injured ...." In paragraph 49 they complain that "The value of the Good Woman video as an educational and counseling tool has been diminished ..." by our parody video. In paragraph 50 they whine that as a result of our video, "Northland's reputation has been harmed ...." Of course it has. The truth always inhibits consumer fraud and voter deception, and thank Heaven for that.

CBR's use of Northland's infomercial is permitted under the Fair Use section of the U.S. Code and we are planning the production of many additional exposé videos as we find more abortion industry advertising, at home and abroad, which makes false and misleading marketing claims. The more we are sued, the more numerous become the forums in which to expose abortion clinic fraud.

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