The following comes from a September 1 Courthouse News Service article by Nick Cahill:

After a flurry of last-minute amendments addressing free-speech concerns, the California Legislature late Wednesday approved a Planned Parenthood-sponsored bill that criminalizes the distribution of secretly recorded conversations with any health care provider.

Lawmakers approved the contentious bill only after the authors removed broad language that could have implicated journalists and media groups for distributing and publishing — but not participating in — undercover videos.

Planned Parenthood sponsored the bill after sting videos showing doctors discussing fetal tissue sales with fake buyers were released last year.

In a victory for California journalists and lobbying groups such as the California Newspaper Publishers Association, lawmakers agreed to add language exempting journalists from criminal prosecution as long as they aren’t involved in the illegal recordings. However, because AB 1671 creates a new crime, opens media outlets up to potentially damaging and often exhausting civil lawsuits.