The Kansas Supreme Court has granted Attorney General Paul Morrison’s (D) request that charges against George Tiller, one of the country’s few providers of late-term abortion, be dropped. The former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R) pursued a case against Dr. Tiller, first alleging that he was investigating child rapes and later admitting that he was really interested in whether Tiller’s clinic had violated late-term abortion statutes. He began his quest to subpoena Tiller’s records in 2004 and was finally successful in obtaining the redacted records in late October 2006, but was ousted in the midterm election shortly thereafter. Before leaving his office, however, Kline did charge Dr. Tiller with 15 counts of “unlawful late term abortion” and 15 counts of “failure to report justification of late term abortion.”
District Attorney Nola Foulston conducted a month-long investigation, concluding that Dr. Tiller had not violated any laws. Attorney General Morrison asked the Kansas Supreme Court to dismiss the charges, and the court did on Tuesday.
Dr. Tiller and his clinic have been repeatedly targeted by anti-abortion activists; Dr. Tiller has weathered legal battles, arsonings and bombings of his clinic, and an assassination attempt in 1994. For many years, the Feminist Majority Foundation has worked with and supported Dr. Tiller through its National Clinic Access Project.
