The legal woes of pro-life activist and journalist David Daleiden – known for his undercover videos exposing the selling and trafficking of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood officials and other abortion industry insiders – continue.

From The Associated Press:

A federal judge said Thursday he will consider holding the leader of an anti-abortion group in contempt after links to videos that the judge had barred from release appeared on the website of the man's attorneys. U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered David Daleiden and his attorneys, Steve Cooley and Brentford J. Ferreira, to appear at a June 14 hearing to consider contempt sanctions.

Yikes.

In addition to being indicted on 15 felony counts and facing civil RICO charges, Daleiden now faces being held in contempt of court.

The latest footage had been posted at the website of Steve Cooley earlier Thursday but was subsequently removed.  Other pro-life news and commentary websites that also posted the footage no longer have it.   

Posting videos that violated an injunction appears to be a legal gaffe on the part of one or more of Daleiden's attorneys.  And it may not have been the first gaffe, either.  It seems to me that if Daleiden had listened to the right people before starting his undercover work, he might not be facing nearly the legal woes he's currently facing.  (Still, it's likely he would not have been entirely in the clear, at least in terms of a civil suit.)

As of the time this blog post was submitted, no statement on why the footage was posted and then removed can be found on either Steve Cooley's website or the website of the Center for Medical Progress.

Look, I applaud Daleiden for his pro-life witness.  Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry in general deserve nothing but contempt.  In a just society, the abortion industry would be paying the price, not Daleiden.  However, we don't live in a just society, and as a result, pro-life activists need to cover all their legal bases to ensure they're not shooting themselves in the foot.

Unless, of course, they don't mind being arrested and possibly put in jail.

For example, using your body to block the entrance to an abortion clinic is a nonviolent, morally acceptable means of protest.  But it will get you arrested.  Thus, one can argue the prudence of engaging in that specific type of pro-life protest.

There may come a day when engaging in any peaceful pro-life protest will get you arrested and imprisoned, but that day hasn't come yet.  So I say to my fellow pro-lifers: let's be careful of self-inflicted wounds.