George Tiller Hearing Has Fireworks But Pro-Life Advocates Look Ahead to Trial
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 6, 2009
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) — A Tuesday hearing in the case of 19 potentially illegal late-term abortions George Tiller did saw fireworks. But pro-life advocates say it is a distraction as Tiller attorneys try to stall the eventual date when the trial will take place and Tiller may be held accountable.
The case revolves around accusations that Tiller did not follow state law, which requires abortion practitioners to find a second doctor to sign off on the legitimacy of the abortions.
Tiller reportedly had a doctor with whom he had a financial relationship, a no-no under state law, sign off on the disputed abortions.
During the hearing, the former mistress of former attorney general Paul Morrison testified and she denied trying to pressure him into filing the charges against Kline.
Morrison resigned after the sex scandal with Linda Carter became public and Tiller attorneys are trying to use the scandal to discredit the charges filed against the abortion practitioner.
Carter said she told Morrison to "do the right thing" regarding the Tiller case but never told him what to do specifically.
The Sedgwick County District Court also saw Tiller attorneys call Phill Kline, the former state attorney general and current county attorney, to the stand.
The attorneys talked about wanting a copy of Kline’s diary and notes about the people involved in the case.
Kline didn’t give into the questioning from Tiller attorneys and told the court of "evidence of a conspiracy between Planned Parenthood and Dr. Tiller."
Kline also said he never sought the identities of women who had obtained abortions when he requested patient records from Tiller and that his only concern what whether Tiller had followed state law.
Carter, who will finish her testimony on Wednesday, told the court that Kline, her former boss when she worked at the county attorney’s office, never told her what to say to Morrison.
Responding to the day’s events, Mary Kay Culp, the director of Kansans for Life, told LifeNews.com that the court and pro-life advocates should keep their eye on the ball.
"Morrison’s charges against Tiller will stand or fall on the evidence presented at the March 16th trial," she said. "This dog and pony show to avoid that trial proves nothing except how desperate Tiller is to avoid the trial, and that evidence coming out."
Culp accused Tiller of violating the state law, saying evidence shows "a supposedly financially unrelated doctor, who happens to be a former abortionist, making her entire annual income of $90,000 a year solely from Tiller referrals."
Culp also said Tiller’s entry into the political world isn’t going to save him.
"Tiller or groups related to him spent $1.2 million dollars to get rid of Kline and elect Paul Morrison attorney general," she told LifeNews.com. "Now, having to discredit Morrison’s charges against him, he turns to this pathetic tactic of saying Linda Carter made him do it."
"Again, the charges were made by a duly elected attorney general — one Tiller helped elect — and the evidence behind those charges is the point, the whole point and nothing but the point. Everything else is high-paid defense lawyer showtime," Culp added.
The hearing resumes on Thursday.
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