Legal experts from across the country filed “friend of the court” briefs last week pressing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to leave in place an order permanently blocking David Daleiden and his anti-choice front group, the Center for Medical Progress, from releasing smear videos against Planned Parenthood.

In February, a federal district judge in California ruled Daleiden and his organization had engaged in a pattern of fraud in making the videos, which claim the reproductive health-care provider violated federal law by selling fetal tissue. Legally, patients are allowed to donate fetal tissue, and reproductive health-care centers are allowed to account for the reasonable costs associated with that donation.

Daleiden and CMP appealed that ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week’s briefs were filed in opposition to Daleiden’s appeal.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and Feminist Majority Foundation filed one of the briefs, putting in context for the court how the videos fit into the framework of violence abortion providers and their patients face daily. The brief included detailed information about the well-documented uptick in violence and threats abortion providers have faced since the videos were released.

“CMP’s actions fit within the same pattern of activity intended to threaten abortion providers and make them feel that they are not safe while working in their lawful professions providing constitutionally-protected medical care,” the brief stated.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California echoed that argument, detailing the effect on the organization’s efforts to provide reproductive health care since Daleiden and CMP first started releasing the videos last summer.

“The release of the fraudulently obtained and recklessly manipulated video tapes has caused enormous harm to Planned Parenthood, its staff, and its patients, and has threatened to jeopardize its ability to offer reproductive health care services to millions of predominantly low-income women, men and teens in America,” stated the brief.

“The Planned Parenthood clinicians who were portrayed in the videos have experienced substantial reputational and emotional harm, in addition to suffering from the increased violence and threats of violence described above, although they have not been found to have done anything wrong,” it continued.

The videos, first released last July, prompted investigations in at least a dozen states and Congress into Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue practices.

So far, no investigation has uncovered any evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood employees. Daleiden, however, remains under criminal indictment in Texas for fraud in connection with his production and release of the videos and faces a separate lawsuit arguing his organization engaged in a criminal conspiracy when it produced and released them.