Friday, the jury in Planned Parenthood's vengeance trial awarded the abortion giant a complete verdict in its lawsuit demanding millions from pro-life hero Sandra Merritt.

Monday, we launched our appeal.

But even as we prepare our motions to argue Sandra's appeal before the U.S. 9th Circuit, we expect another announcement on December 6. That's when we'll learn whether the bogus state criminal charges pending against Sandra will go to trial.

If convicted, Sandra could spend more than a decade behind bars—all for exposing Planned Parenthood’s heinous trade in human body parts harvested from the bodies of tiny infants.

Sandra is waging an uphill fight against the abortion chain in a state where it wields enormous clout.

And that's why I ask for your prayers--and your generous help now as we launch our appeal. This is the most costly legal battle in Liberty Counsel’s history--and one of the most important.

Please stand with Sandra and Liberty Counsel today!

Incredibly, the judge in this case tossed out the First Amendment! See below . . . --Mat

Even before the jury retired to consider its verdict last week, Liberty Counsel Chief Litigation Counsel Harry Mihet predicted it would take a miracle to defeat Planned Parenthood’s revenge suit in California against our client Sandra Merritt.

He was right. Here’s why, as Harry explained . . .

Based on the [judge’s] jury instructions and the verdict form, which are incredibly biased and designed to strait jacket this jury to find against us, it will take an absolute miracle to pull out a victory.

How biased, you ask? Well, let me list a few examples...

+  +  First Amendment tossed out

Here is an exact quote from Judge William Orrick’s instruction to the jury, which he read aloud in court:

The First Amendment is not a defense to the claims in this case for the jury to consider. Defendants’ argument that they were citizen journalists was admissible as context for the Defendants’ case, not as a legal defense.

That ruling severely tied our hands during the trial. It also creates a new and dangerous precedent which puts investigative journalists in America at risk.

+  +  Truth and criminality don't matter

Here’s another gem from Judge Orrick’s error-strewn instruction to the jury:

I need to emphasize what this case is not about. It is not about the truth of whether Plaintiffs profited from the sale of fetal tissue or otherwise violated the law in securing tissue for those programs. It is not about whether any Plaintiff actually engaged in illegal conduct.

But the truth is that Planned Parenthood clearly sold aborted body parts as the undercover evidence captured by Sandra and her colleague David Daleiden reveals.

The startling revelations in the videos—nearly all of which were banned from Orrick’s court—sparked House and Senate investigations which led, in turn, to criminal referrals of Planned Parenthood to the FBI.

But Orrick told the jury to close its eyes to the obvious.

+  +  Orrick ORDERS jury to find Merritt and Daleiden guilty

And that’s not all. Judge Orrick also ordered the jury to find Merritt and Daleiden guilty of trespassing for their undercover journalism at Planned Parenthood conferences and clinics before the jury retired to consider a verdict.

The judge said the jury must accept his rulings and only decide if Planned Parenthood suffered damage from the trespass and what damages they should be awarded.

+  +  Trial judge linked to Planned Parenthood

Judge Orrick, by the way, has deep ties to Planned Parenthood. He helped launch, run and fund a Planned Parenthood facility that shares space with a family resource center where he served as a founder, officer and director.

And that Planned Parenthood facility belongs to one of the Planned Parenthood affiliates suing Sandra!

Orrick didn’t disclose any of this information when he took Planned Parenthood’s civil lawsuit targeting Sandra. And when it was discovered, he refused to recuse himself from the case.

+  +  Stand with Sandra as the battle enters its next phase

Those are just some of the many reversible errors from this case. The challenge we now face in bringing our appeal is not to find trial error, but to pick which of Judge Orrick’s many grievous errors to squeeze into our appellate brief.

And I’m asking for your help now to launch this appeal and take this critical battle against the nation’s number one abortion provider to the next stage.

Your generosity today will make a real difference for Sandra and for the unborn. We’re launching her appeal even as we await word on whether the criminal charges against Sandra will go to trial.

This is the most important pro-life battle in a generation. And it’s also the most expensive in Liberty Counsel’s 30-year history. That’s why I’m asking for your generous support now!

Thank you for the difference you make as we, together, stand for life and liberty in America today!

With gratitude,

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel