Jury Acquits Kansas Abortion Provider Tiller; State Medical Board Announces Charges

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 31 Mar 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Kansas abortion provider George Tiller was acquitted Friday of charges that he performed 19 abortions without the consultation of an independent Kansas doctor in 2003 in violation of a state law on procedures later in pregnancy, the New York Times reports. The state charged Tiller with violating a Kansas abortion law that calls for an independent doctor from the state to agree that a woman seeking an abortion later in pregnancy would face irreversible harm if she were to continue the pregnancy. Prosecutors alleged that the second doctor, Kristin Neuhaus, who consulted in all 19 procedures cited in the case, "had an improper financial relationship" with Tiller, according to the New York Times. Jurors deliberated for 45 minutes before acquitting Tiller, whose clinic is one of three in the U.S. that performs later-term abortions, the New York Times reports. Tiller "has been reviled by antiabortion forces for decades," and protests occur outside his Wichita clinic almost daily, according to the Times (Stumpe, New York Times, 3/28). According to the AP/Boston Globe, Tiller "has claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated." A Kansas attorney general who opposes abortion rights launched the investigation more than four years ago, but his successor, who filed the charges, and the current attorney general both support abortion rights (AP/Boston Globe, 3/28).

New Charges Announced

The Kansas Board of Healing Arts on Friday announced that it would be bringing an 11-count administrative case against Tiller, accusing him of violating the same abortion law cited in the criminal case, the Los Angeles Times reports (Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, 3/28). If Tiller is found guilty, the board -- which regulates doctors in the state -- could suspend or restrict his medical license or fine him (AP/Boston Globe, 3/28). According to the Los Angeles Times, the board said in a press release that the recent criminal case was not "determinant" and that the new case would proceed "on its own merits" (Los Angeles Times, 3/28).

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