Kansas Attorney General Changes Abortion Records Request 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 16, 2005
Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline on Thursday submitted legal papers with the Kansas Supreme Court altering his request for records from abortion businesses. Kline has been in a legal battle with them because he needs medical records of minor girls who had abortions and appear to be the victims of statutory rape.
IN the motion he filed, Kline said he does not need all of the identifying information about the girls but he does need information relating to the girls identification, sexual health and history and mental health.
The Kansas Supreme Court is trying to determine whether or not Kline should have access to the records. He says it’s important to prosecute cases of child rape and sexual abuse, but abortion facilities are unwilling to comply. They say it’s an invasion of privacy.
The state’s high court is expected to make its decision later this fall on whether to overturn a Shawnee County judge’s ruling upholding Kline’s request.
Kline said that judge needs identifying information because he and a physician will review the records and "cross-reference the files with records and evidence from other sources."
A final decision by the Kansas Supreme Court may not be the final word on the debate. Staff at the abortion centers say they will tell the girls whose records Kline is seeking that they should file a lawsuit to prevent him from getting them.
Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, told the Associated Press the abortion business would help the girls find attorneys to block Kline’s efforts further.
"If the court decides to go forward, we will make every effort to contact every one of the women to make sure they have the opportunity to assert their rights to privacy," he said.
Kansas law requires medical personnel to report suspicions of statutory rape to authorities and bans abortions conducted after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless there is a serious health threat for the mother.
In 2004, 79 girls under the age of 15 had abortions in Kansas.
Kline is seeking documents from a Planned Parenthood abortion business an a late-term abortion facility run by abortion practitioner George Tiller. Earlier this month, Tiller’s abortion business was found shredding hundreds of documents behind its facility.
Related web sites:
Kansas Supreme Court – https://www.kscourts.org
Attorney General’s office – https://www.ksag.org
Kansans for Life – https://www.kfl.org
