Kansas Late-Term Abortion Practitioner Could Get 19 Years in Jail on New Charges

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 28, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Kansas Late-Term Abortion Practitioner Could Get 19 Years in Jail on New Charges Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 28
, 2007

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — Kansas’ late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller could face 19 years in prison for doing illegal abortions. After dropping all of the charges against Planned Parenthood and some of the ones against Tiller, Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison says the case isn’t over.

He confirmed he will pursue 19 misdemeanor charges against the late-term abortion practitioner.

In a statement on Thursday, Morrison said he described the allegations as a “technical violation” of a 1998 law saying the abortions can only be done for legitimate health reasons.

Morrison said he and his staff "found a pattern of referrals from one physician" for the abortions when two doctors are supposed to sign off on whether the abortion meets the legal criteria of a “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function" of the woman in question.

Tiller could go to jail for up to a year on each charge and be fined $2,500 per violation, if convicted.

Morrison re-filed the charges in Sedgwick County District Court, which dismissed them on jurisdictional grounds last time when former top state attorney Phill Kline filed them. At issues was a problem with getting Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, who had taken money from Tiller, to agree to the charges.

This time Morrison had her support to file them.

Meanwhile, AP reported that Tiller’s attorneys, Lee Thompson and Dan Monnat, distributed a written statement saying the abortion practitioner is innocent.

“Today’s announcement simply involves a difference of opinion between lawyers regarding unusual technicalities in Kansas abortion law procedure,” they said.

Kline wouldn’t comment on Morrison’s latest move. He filed the charges against Tiller last year saying that he performed illegal late-term abortions for reasons such as "depression" rather than legitimate emergency medical concerns.

Related web sites:
Kansans for Life – https://www.kfl.org