Republicans stalled the vote on Steve Six, a pro-abortion federal appeals court nominee President Barack Obama put forward who formerly served as the Attorney general for the state of Kansas.
The Senate Judiciary Committee was slated to vote on Six’s nomination to serve on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals but pro-life St. Charles Grassley of Iowa exercized his right under the rules to delay the vote one week. That gives pro-life advocates more time to drum up opposition to his nomination.
Also today, Penny Nance, the CEO of Concerned Women for America, a pro-life women’s group, came out with a new statement saying it strongly opposed Six’s nomination because of his abortion advocacy. She cited his interference with an investigation of the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
In October, 2007, District Attorney Phill Kline filed 107 charges including 23 felonies, against the Planned Parenthood abortion business for allegedly violating state law. Kline alleged the abortion business potentially engaged in illegal abortions and violated state record-keeping laws by changing abortion data in an attempt to cover up late abortions done outside Kansas law.
After Kline filed the charges, Six, who was appointed by pro-abortion ex-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (now the Obama Secretary for Health and Human Services), placed a gag order on a state judge who allowed Kline access to Planned Parenthood abortion files needed to prove his case. Anderson was told not to comply with the District Attorney’s subpoenas by Six’s office even though two judges determined that the files show “probable cause” that the abortion business violated state abortion laws and falsified medical records.
Six then backtracked and modified his demand with the Kansas Supreme Court, and acknowledged that key evidence should remain with in the possession of a District Court judge. Six had sued Judge Richard Anderson and asked that abortion reports Anderson had previously obtained be given back to him so he could give them to the Overland Park Planned Parenthood under investigation.
Six offered an alternative, saying Judge Anderson can keep the records as long as they are not used in the criminal case brought against Planned Parenthood. That would still prevent justice from moving forward, pro-life advocates said.
“The protection of women, especially minors, should be paramount to every senator,” CWA’s Nance said in a statement LifeNews received today. “Six’s efforts in Kansas put young women’s lives at risk. There was very convincing evidence, corroborated by a judge, that Planned Parenthood may have engaged in falsifying records that could reveal the rape and sexual abuse of young women. Six not only ignored that evidence, he actively worked to derail the investigation. As an organization representing women, that is simply unacceptable.”
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Members, Nance wrote:
Radical pro-abortion advocate Kathleen Sebelius, former Kansas Governor and now Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, handpicked Six to continue the work of discredited Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison.Six continued the efforts to stop the investigation of Planned Parenthood, ignoring the young women that were abused through the alleged cover-up. When Klein subpoenaed the judge who had seen the Planned Parenthood records to testify, Six secretly obtained an order from the Kansas Supreme Court to censor him and prevent him from testifying. The Supreme Court eventually reversed itself after Klein appealed, but Six’s trickery worked, as Klein was out of office by the time the issue was resolved. And with Klein gone, the investigation, of course, went nowhere.
His appointment is an attempt to reward the very behavior for which Kansans got rid of him. With so many good candidates available, there is no reason to promote one with such a questionable past. To do so gives the American people the appearance of impropriety from the outset.
Operation Rescue told LifeNews.com at the time that it was concerned about Six’s efforts to keep important evidence out of the hands of prosecutors and called his actions a blatant obstruction of justice.
“Six has been acting like he is on Planned Parenthood’s payroll. His actions have been grossly inappropriate for a state’s ‘Top Cop,’” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
“The records show overt actions taken by Six in direct response to Kline’s prosecution that were designed to make sure incriminating evidence against Planned Parenthood was never used against them in court, ” Newman added. “When Six’s efforts to deny evidence to Kline were finally exposed, Six had no choice but to backtrack. His pleadings made him look guilty as sin in an obvious abortion cover up.”
“Steve Six has a lot to answer for,” Newman concluded. “The charges of illegal late-term abortions and making false representations to authorities to cover for other crimes are serious charges that deserve to have a fair hearing in court. Steve Six placed himself between a county prosecutor and the perpetrator for the express purpose of concealing evidence of Planned Parenthood’s crimes. That is unconscionable.”
In more recent comments, Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue urged Six’s defeat, saying, “Operation Rescue opposes Six’s confirmation on the grounds that his political biases make him unfit to serve.”
Kathy Ostrowski of Kansans for Life has also called on the Senate to defeat Six’s nomination.
“Six has not demonstrated any notable record of accomplishment during his Sebelius-appointments. Rather he has shown himself to be partisan and pro-abortion. He was willing to interrupt his comfortable law practice and this judicial nomination is his reward for jumping to help Sebelius and the abortion industry,” she said.
Six, a Democrat who served as attorney general until he lost his bid for re-election, will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was defeated in the mid-term elections of 2010 and was replaced by pro-life supporter Derek Schmidt.
ACTION: Contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at https://judiciary.senate.gov and urge opposition to Six’s nomination.
