A group of researchers involved in abortion provider Planned Parenthood’s baby body parts supply chain is suing the Center for Medical Progress’s David Daleiden, along with a pro-life Washington state group and the University of Washington, in an effort to stop the release of records on the sale of human fetal tissue.

The researchers filing federal suit are affiliated with the University of Washington’s Birth Defects Research Center, which collects, stores, processes and distributes human fetal tissue. Daleiden and the Washington-state-based Family Policy Institute had filed public-disclosure requests with the University of Washington in February.

According to Joseph Backholm of the Family Policy Institute, “We know that Planned Parenthood and the University of Washington have a relationship.” The records requests were filed in order to explore that relationship by looking at invoices and contracts, where there may be evidence of purchasing fetal body parts.

The suit against Daleiden, Family Policy Institute and the University of Washington claims that the release of that information would mean “a threat of violence for individuals participating at any level in fetal tissue donation and research programs.”

The Center for Medical Progress calls the suit “the suppression of public records about Planned Parenthood’s supply of aborted baby parts to the taxpayer-sponsored, NIH-funded fetal harvesting service at the University of Washington.”

“What is Planned Parenthood hiding about their new model baby parts program at the University of Washington?” the CMP statement asks. “The American people, whose tax dollars make this entire barbaric industry possible, deserve to know the truth.”

In an interview with Seattle’s KING5 News, Backholm said the names of researchers aren’t the point of the records requests. “We’re not looking for information on people,” he said, “We’re looking for information about connections between entities and whether money was exchanged for human body parts.”

The University of Washington alerted researchers to the impending release of the documents, whose contents are being withheld for now. A hearing on the suit is scheduled for later this month.