California Attorney General Kamala Harris is running for the U.S. Senate. | AP Photo Anti-abortion groups call on California attorney general to resign, stop Senate bid

Susan B. Anthony List joined other anti-abortion groups Thursday in calling for California Attorney General Kamala Harris to resign and stop her Senate run over the search of the apartment of the man behind the undercover videos of Planned Parenthood last summer.

The anti-abortion advocacy group released a statement Thursday, accusing Harris of a “conflict of interest and abuse of government power.”


On Tuesday evening, California investigators searched the home of David Daleiden, the man who released a series of videos last summer that showed Planned Parenthood employees discussing fees for fetal tissue and organs. The search came following an announcement from Harris last summer that she would investigate whether Daleiden broke any laws.

“The fact that Ms. Harris is seizing private property of a pro-life California activist who has exposed horrific practices conducted by Planned Parenthood, which donated thousands to her last campaign, while her Senate campaign promotes and defends them — the nation's largest abortion provider — is a conflict of interest and abuse of government power,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement, referring to Harris’ current run for the U.S. Senate. “Ms. Harris should resign from her attorney general post and end her bid for the U.S. Senate. She has abused her government office and no longer deserves the public trust.”

The call from SBA follows similar ones this week from the anti-abortion group Students for Life of America and Concerned Women for America.

“California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who sent agents to raid the home a citizen journalist who exposed Planned Parenthood’s practices of harvesting and selling the body parts of aborted babies, is using her Senate campaign website to advocate for the abortion giant, promoting a petition to defend Planned Parenthood," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Kamala Harris is engaged in the highest level of corruption and abuse of power. While she uses her KGB-like tactics to seize personal property of an innocent American citizen, the Concerned Women of America CEO and president said in a statement Thursday. "The American people and the citizens of California have had enough of corrupt politicians who abuse their power for political gain."

And in a statement Tuesday, Daleiden accused Harris of not investigating Planned Parenthood because of her political ties.

"This is no surprise — Planned Parenthood's bought-and-paid-for AG has steadfastly refused to enforce the law against the baby body parts traffickers in our state, or even investigate them — while at the same time doing their bidding to harass and intimidate citizen journalists," Daleiden said in a statement. "We will pursue all remedies to vindicate our First Amendment rights."

"We can't comment on any on-going investigations," a spokesman for the California attorney general's office told POLITICO in an email when asked to comment on the call for Harris to quit.

Harris isn't the only attorney general or other elected official to investigate the videos; however, the search of Daleiden's house is unique because he lives in the state.

Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report.