Last Updated Nov 19th, 2019 at 7:47 am

A San Francisco jury awarded Planned Parenthood $2.2 million in damages on Friday, finding that pro-life activist and investigative journalist David Daleiden broke federal and state laws when he secretly recorded abortion doctors and staff in an attempt to prove that they were illegally selling body parts from aborted babies.

Daleiden heads the Center for Medical Progress. He and his co-defendant Sandra Merritt posed as human tissue procurers for a fake company called BioMax as part of a hidden-camera investigation into Planned Parenthood. They attended abortion industry conferences from 2013 to 2015, where they secretly recorded conversations. Daleiden also made recordings at Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas and Colorado.

The group posted the interactions online, causing outrage in the pro-life movement, with many contending that the videos indeed showed the illegal sale of unborn baby remains on top of a callous disregard for life.

The jury found that Daleiden trespassed on private property and committed fraud. The $2.2 million awarded to Planned Parenthood includes $870,000 in punitive damages.

Daleiden released a statement after the verdict: