Kansas Attorney General Won’t Resign Despite Affair-Abortion Scandal

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 11, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Kansas Attorney General Won’t Resign Despite Affair-Abortion Scandal Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 11,
2007

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison says he has no plans to step down from office despite being rocked by a sexual harassment claim tied to an affair he had with a subordinate employee. Morrison is accused of urging the employee to gather information in a case his replacement is building against an abortion center.

Morrison has admitted to having an affair with Linda Carter, who was his director of administration at the county attorney’s office.

She resigned her job at the end of November and filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to an expose in the Topeka Capital-Journal.

In the claim, Carter alleges Morrison pressured her by asking her to obtain confidential documents in the case new Johnson County Attorney Phill Kline, the former state attorney general, is building against a Planned Parenthood abortion business in Overland Park.

Pro-life groups have told LifeNews.com that Morrison should resign his position, but a spokeswoman says he won’t do that.

Ashley Anstaett talked with AP about her boss and said Morrison met with staff members on Monday but wouldn’t discuss the content of the discussions.

She also confirmed Morrison won’t step down and added, "It’s a personal matter and he is still capable of performing his public duties, as he has been throughout his career."

Mary Kay Culp, the director of Kansas for Life, responded in an interview with LifeNews.com.

"His refusal to resign is just proof that his bad judgment of the last two years carries over to the last two days," she said.

Culp worries that an investigation into Morrison’s interfering with abortion-related litigation won’t be completely independent of pro-abortion Gov. Kathleen Sebelius or others who are political friends of Morrison’s or have received campaign donations from abortion practitioner George Tiller.

"Sebelius and Morrison have spent the last two years falsely alleging abuse of privacy as a means of keeping our abortion laws from being enforced, and she and those close to her cannot in any way be trusted on this issue," Culp said.

Morrison has condemned Kline for investigating the abortion center and filing charges of illegal abortions and improper paperwork after Morrison dismissed similar state charges Kline had filed against Planned Parenthood.

Carter also alleges that the two had a lengthy discussion about Morrison’s charges against Wichita abortion practitioner George Tiller.

Morrison talked with the media this weekend and confirmed the affair, but denied he pressured Carter into gathering information about the abortion case.

“Many of the claims made by Linda Carter are false,” Morrison told the Topeka newspaper. “Unfortunately, it is true, however, that I once had a consensual relationship with Mrs. Carter. And I profoundly regret that I did.”

“Any allegation that I used the relationship to influence litigation is absolutely false,” Morrison said. “The only people attempting to use this painful and personal information for their own benefit are Mrs. Carter and her boss, Phill Kline.”