Kansas Supreme Court Blocks Enforcement Of Grand Jury Subpoena Of Abortion Records

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 22 Feb 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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Citing "significant issues" regarding patient privacy and a grand jury's authority to issue subpoenas, the chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked enforcement of a grand jury subpoena from Sedgwick County, Kan., of medical records of women who obtained abortions after their 21st week of pregnancy at physician George Tiller's Wichita clinic, Women's Health Care Services, the Wichita Eagle reports (Sylvester, Wichita Eagle, 2/20). The subpoena from the grand jury had ordered state Attorney General Stephen Six (D) to turn over the records of 60 women who obtained abortions at the clinic by Wednesday.

The state Supreme Court earlier this month blocked the enforcement of a separate subpoena issued by the grand jury of 2,000 medical records of women who sought or obtained abortions after their 21st week of pregnancy at Tiller's clinic. The court on Tuesday in a one-page order said that Six's request was "closely related" to the previous subpoena and that the "same action is deemed appropriate" (Hanna, AP/Google.com, 2/19).

Kansas is one of the few states that allows citizens to petition to empanel a grand jury. The antiabortion group Kansans for Life in September 2007 delivered a petition asking the Sedgwick County, Kan., District Court to convene a grand jury and appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Tiller (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/29). The grand jury is investigating whether Tiller violated Kansas law, which allows women to abort a fetus post-viability only if two doctors certify that continuing the pregnancy could kill the woman or cause "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/8).

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Six spokesperson Ashley Anstaett said the attorney general "simply wanted to give the Supreme Court an opportunity to review what they considered significant issues." Dan Monnat, an attorney representing Tiller, said, "Dr. Tiller is very pleased that the Kansas Supreme Court and Kansas Attorney General Six continue their careful protection of patients' constitutional rights to privacy no matter how unpopular that may be to a very vocal minority."

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, said, "We continue to hold out hope that justice will prevail in Kansas, despite these signs to the contrary." State Sen. Phil Journey (R), who opposes abortion rights, said the Supreme Court is thwarting the will of the people, adding, "That's very disconcerting" (AP/Google.com, 2/19).

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