Kansas Attorney General Kline Defeated By Challenger Morrison

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 10 Nov 2006 - 3:00 PDT


Johnson County, Kan., District Attorney Paul Morrison (D) defeated Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R) 58% to 42%, with about 95% of the precincts reporting, the Kansas City Star reports (Sullinger, Kansas City Star, 11/8). Kline in 2004 subpoenaed the records of 90 women and girls who in 2003 underwent late-term abortions at Comprehensive Health, which is operated by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri in Overland Park, Kan., and Women's Health Care Services in Wichita, Kan., saying there is probable cause that each record contains evidence of a felony. The original subpoena asked that the records include each patient's name, medical history, birth control practices, psychological profile and sexual history and asked for the records of all women and girls who sought abortions at or after 22 weeks' gestation. Shawnee County, Kan., District Court Judge Richard Anderson turned over the records to Kline's office on Oct. 24 after removing information that would identify individuals, and Kline said they are being reviewed "by criminal investigators and criminal prosecutors" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/3). Morrison has said Kline's request was an invasion of medical privacy (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/31). On Tuesday, Morrison said he would determine if any crimes warranted prosecution after he looks at evidence collected by Kline's office. "I'm not sure that it would be right or fair to just turn them back over (to the clinics)," Morrison said (Kansas City Star, 11/8).

Clinic's Attorneys Ask for Investigation Related to O'Reilly Comments
The clinic's attorneys on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether Kline gave information contained in the records to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. O'Reilly on Friday on his show "The O'Reilly Factor" said he had obtained information from a source that physician George Tiller, who owns Women's Health Care Services, had preformed late-term abortions on women because they were depressed (Hanna, AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/6). "Our information says that on almost every medical sheet -- and obviously we have a source inside here -- it says, 'depression,'" O'Reilly told Kline during the show, adding, "I don't know whether you have that information or not -- I don't know -- but that's what it says." He added that his show had evidence that Tiller's clinic and another unnamed clinic had violated Kansas law by not reporting evidence of potential rapes of children ages 10 to 15. Kline spokesperson Sherriene Jones said, "We don't know anything about Mr. O'Reilly's inside source," adding, "I assumed he was talking about somebody on the inside of the abortion clinics." Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney for the clinics, and Tiller said it is "preposterous" that the information O'Reilly obtained came from a staff member of one of the clinics, adding, "This has been our concern from the beginning, that if [Kline] ended up with these records, that just this type of event would occur" (Hanna, AP/Orlando Sentinel, 11/6). Kline on Monday said the request to the state Supreme Court for a special prosecutor is "frivolous," adding, "It is a political move." Morrison campaign manager Mark Simpson said, "Phill Kline has engaged in a serious violation of privacy by seeking out those records and there are some serious questions about how he's handled them now that he's got them" (Hanna, AP/Wichita Eagle, 11/7). The state Supreme Court does not have a record of ever appointing a special prosecutor, court spokesperson Ron Keefover said (AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/6).

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