Kansas Battle Continues Over Abortion-Sexual Abuse Investigation

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 6, 2006   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Kansas Battle Continues Over Abortion-Sexual Abuse Investigation Email this article
Printer friendly page

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 6
, 2006

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — A fierce battle continues between pro-life state Attorney General Phill Kline and pro-abortion challenger Paul Morrison over an investigation Kline has been running looking into cases of sexual abuse. Kline has been trying to obtain records from two abortion facilities who have failed to help him in the probe.

The latest fight in the intense conflict centers on whether or not Morrison would drop the investigation.

In September, Morrison said he would halt the probe, claiming Kline was misusing state resources for a personal agenda.

Instead of focusing on the cover-up of statutory rape, Morrison said he would establish a domestic violence program in the attorney general’s office similar to the one he has as the Johnson County District Attorney.

“Some of the money that’s been used on misplaced priorities could easily fund” the effort, he said, attacking Kline’s probe.

No, Morrison is backtracking saying that he never indicated he would drop the probe. On Thursday, he wouldn’t confirm one way or the other just what he’d do.

Despite his flip-flop on how he would handle the important investigation, Morrison has been airing negative television commercials claiming Kline wants to confiscate personal medical information and put it “in the government’s hands.”

The Associated Press noted Morrison’s contradiction in a news story Friday: "The Democrat’s comments left some Kansans with the impression that he’d drop the pursuit if he’s elected, and news stories repeatedly have described it as his position. Kline has said the same thing in their debates, without being contradicted."

Morrison spokesman Mark Simpson wouldn’t give AP a definitive answer in an interview Friday.

“He’s not going to speculate on that right now,” Simpson said. “The fact is there’s a lot of work to be done to get that office back in order.”

The debate comes at a time when a man who raped his stepdaughters received 27 years in prison. An unnamed man raped his 11 and 12 year-old girls and the rapes resulted in four pregnancies, one of which ended in an abortion.