WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas' attorney general, a vocal abortion opponent, charged a well- known abortion provider with illegally performing late-term abortions and failing to report his justifications to the state. Most of the 30 misdemeanor counts against Dr. George Tiller involve abortions performed on patients 17 or younger, including a 10-year- old, according to the criminal complaint unsealed Friday in Sedgwick County District Court.
Attorney General Phill Kline's office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Tiller's clinic, known for being one of the few in the country to perform late-term abortions, has been a high-profile target of anti- abortion protesters for decades. The clinic was bombed in 1985, and Tiller was shot in both arms by a protester in 1993.
Kline, who lost his re-election bid in November and leaves office in three weeks, has been investigating whether Tiller and other abortion providers performed illegal late-term abortions in Kansas or failed to report suspected child abuse as required by law.
He waged a two-year legal battle before finally this year obtaining the records of 90 patients from Tiller's Wichita clinic and a clinic operated in Overland Park by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid- Missouri.
Since the election, abortion rights activists have expected him to move against Tiller and perhaps Planned Parenthood, as well.
Kansas law says that if a woman wants to obtain an abortion after the 22nd week of her pregnancy, a doctor must first determine whether the fetus can survive outside the womb. If the fetus is viable, the woman must face permanent damage to a "major bodily function" or use a procedure the law calls partial-birth abortion to preserve her physical or mental health.
Tiller and Planned Parenthood have repeatedly said they've committed no wrongdoing and that the patient records Kline obtained contained no evidence of crimes by either the clinics or their doctors.
"We also intend to explore any and all means of holding Kline personally responsible for his malicious actions," Monnat said. "Rather than executing his duty as a prosecutor to see that justice is done, he has chosen to engage in a malicious and spiteful prosecution on the eve of Christmas."
The incoming attorney general, Democrat Paul Morrison, has criticized Kline for seeking the records, describing it as an invasion of the patients' privacy, but he wouldn't say if he would drop any investigation Kline started against the clinics.
Morrison spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett said Friday that Morrison would evaluate the charges against Tiller when he takes office.
"And like all pending cases, he will give them the attention they deserve based on the evidence," she said.
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Associated Press Writer John Hanna in Topeka contributed to this story.
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On the Net:
Attorney general's office: http://www.ksag.org
Tiller's clinic: http://www.drtiller.com
