Lab workers sue to keep their names from anti-abortion group

SEATTLE – Researchers and employees for a University of Washington lab that uses tissues obtained from abortions and other procedures have filed a lawsuit to prevent their names from being released to anti-abortion activists.

The Seattle Times reported employees at the Birth Defects Research Center say they fear harassment and violence if their names are given to anti-abortion group The Center for Medical Progress.

The founder, David Daleiden, is responsible for the release of “sting” videos about fetal-tissue experimentation and Planned Parenthood that resulted in a national uproar.

Daleiden and Zachary Freeman with the anti-abortion Family Policy Institute of Washington are named as defendants in the federal class-action lawsuit since they are seeking release of the records through the Washington Public Records Act. The university is named as a defendant as the agency preparing to release the information.

The lawsuit claims to represent up to 150 plaintiffs in Washington and elsewhere.