Grand Jury Fails to Indict Kansas Practitioner for Girl’s Abortion Death 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 31, 2006
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) — Kansas late-term abortion partitioner George Tiller has escaped prosecution as second time in the abortion death of a mentally disabled Texas girl he killed in a botched abortion in January 2005. Members of a grand jury convened after more than 6,000 local residents filed a petition calling on them to do so, but they found no criminal wrongdoing.
The Sedgwick County grand jury found Tiller should not be held accountable for the death of Christin Gilbert.
District Attorney Nola Foulston, who has come under fire from pro-life advocates for her position in favor of abortion and refusal to press charges against Tiller, a personal friend, said the grand jury had been dismissed without returning an indictment.
The Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which regulates doctors in the state, also refused to indict Tiller in the botched abortion.
An autopsy conducted on Gilbert found that she died of sepsis, a lethal bacterial infection brought on by abortions in the deaths of women in other states.
David Gittrich, the state development director for Kansans for Life said the grand jury’s failed to hold Tiller accountable "should not be a surprise to anyone."
"That would be like asking one of Tiller’s staff members (or Governor Sebelius) to look into any wrongdoing," he said in a statement provided to LifeNews.com. "Of course, we would expect this verdict if Nola Foulston did the investigation. It just shows how much more work we have to do in the judicial system."
Gilbert, who had Down syndrome, was taken by her parents from Texas to Kansas for the late-term abortion.
After Gilbert suffered from complications from the abortion, Tiller’s staff contacted 911 but asked that an ambulance not turn on its lights or sirens to not raise suspicion.
Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said the KBHA investigation was "tainted by political influence and cronyism. People who were financially and politically tied to Tiller are the ones who ‘cleared’ him."
Tiller, who is a large campaign contributor to pro-abortion candidates, including Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who intervened in the investigation. The KBHA is appointed by the
governor.
The Kansas medical board determined that Tiller complied with state laws and health care standards in his treatment of Gilbert, despite eventually killing her. Yet, Tiller sent Gilbert to a local hotel after the abortion even though her condition was worsening following the botched abortion.
Though her parents took her for the abortion, another member of Gilbert’s family has said she would not have wanted the abortion and helped lead the effort to gather the signatures.
Gittrich said the case should be reminder to anyone considering an abortion that it is not a safe medical procedure.
"Christin died and there may be others but the cover-up is difficult to penetrate," he said. "Abortion is never safe for a baby, and it can be deadly for the mother as well."
Only 2,850 signatures were needed but the county certified 6,186 valid signatures, more than twice as many as were necessary.
Related web sites:
Justice for Christian – https://www.justiceforchristin.com
