A Kansas-based Planned Parenthood abortion business wants to hide evidence and prevent it from appearing in court as a trial moves forward concerning 107 charges it faces of violating state late-term abortion laws.
After two years of delay, the case with 107 charges against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has finally moved forward. The charges, initially filed by former state attorney general Phill Kline, allege the abortion business potentially engaged in illegal abortions and violated state record-keeping laws. Former state attorney general Phill Kline, as the then Johnson County District Attorney, filed 107 charges, including 23 felonies, against the abortion business for allegedly violating state law.
Now, attorneys for Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, located in Overland Park, Kansas, have filed two motions for “protective orders” in advance of a scheduled motion hearing on July 15.
According to information Operation Rescue provided LifeNews today, the Planned Parenthood motions request that the court set up a complicated computer system to ensure that no one attending the public trial can see the evidence except for the judge, jury, and attorneys — even though all evidence has already been heavily redacted to prevent the identification of any particular patient. In some cases, OR says, the data in question is public information available on a web site operated by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
Assistant Johnson County District Attorney Christopher L. McMullin objects to the Planned Parenthood motion and filed a formal response filed with the court on May 25.
“Notwithstanding the competing rights – of the defendant to a public trial, of the media to a public trial, of the public to a public trial – these measures are unnecessary (and perhaps unconstitutional),” wrote McMullin.
Planned Parenthood also is demanding to be notified immediately if the prosecution decides to seek further subpoenas of KDHE records so it has a chance to object to them being made public. In his legal filing, McMullin insists that Planned Parenthood “has no standing to object to the issuance of such a subpoena, and no authority to insinuate itself into the process for handling the forms should they be retained.”
OR president Troy Newman commented on the legal demand Planned Parenthood is making and said, “This is nothing more than a continuation of Planned Parenthood’s 8-year effort to cover-up – and ultimately destroy – the evidence against them. They are wrongly hiding behind the skirts of their patients’ privacy rights in order to conceal their crimes.”
“These documents have all been so censored that no one could ever guess a patient’s identity, especially after eight years. Planned Parenthood’s motions are really an underhanded attempt to subvert justice,” he added.
Newman says the motions for protective orders concern two types of documents, including abortion records dating back to 2003, which were obtained through subpoena and have already been heavily redacted “beyond HIPAA requirements.” These documents are in compliance with strict redaction rules imposed by the pro-abortion Kansas Supreme Court to assure the protection of the identity of abortion patients.
The second class of documents are KDHE Reports of Induced Termination of Pregnancy (TOPs). These are KDHE-generated forms that abortion practitioners must fill out for each abortion. The forms do not contain patient names or the name of the abortion practitioner, but contain generic information that is compiled and released to the public. Newman says the TOP forms are so heavily redacted that the box labels are redacted despite the fact that copies of the form are public and online on the KDHE Web Site.
“After viewing an example of the redactions that are already in place, Planned Parenthood’s demands for special treatment become ludicrous, if not comical,” said Newman. “They are using ‘smoke-and-mirrors’ arguments to make it appear that privacy is at issue when it is not. There’s no doubt that Planned Parenthood is more concerned about keeping ‘private’ evidence of their guilt, than they are about women.”
Assistant District Attorney McMullin agrees that Planned Parenthood’s concerns are baseless.
“The Office of District Attorney for the Tenth Judicial District has vast experience in presenting evidence of a sensitive nature in open Court,” wrote McMullin in his response. “For instance, this office routinely prosecutes sexual assault cases. Victim records, including colposcope photographs of genitals, are presented in court, in a discrete manner. Pornography depicting minors is routinely presented in court. Are these items any less deserving of privacy and respect? The litigants have clear direction from this State’s highest Court regarding the handling of the patient records, and these directions will be followed. There is no need for expensive, complicated additional procedures to correct a problem that does not exist.”
A hearing on the motions is scheduled for July 15 in the courtroom of Judge Stephen Tatum at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, Kansas.
In addition to two Kansas state attorneys, two attorneys from Planned Parenthood Federation of America are representing the Kansas abortion business, which Newman says shows the importance of this case on a national scale. If convicted, Planned Parenthood could face hefty fees and the loss of federal funding nationwide since groups that receive Federal tax-dollars must be in compliance with all Local, State, and Federal laws.
“Operation Rescue has worked for eight years to expose Planned Parenthood’s wrong-doing in Kansas and prevent this case from being swept under the rug,” said Newman. “We continue to work to help the public understand the often complicated legal twists and turns, and keep this criminal prosecution in the public eye. There is a lot at stake, not the least of which are the innocent lives of pre-born babies.”
The case against Planned Parenthood began over seven years ago but before the evidence could be fully analyzed, Kline was defeated as Attorney General. In an unusual twist, he was immediately appointed as District Attorney of the same Kansas county where Planned Parenthood operates.
In June, 2007, the new pro-abortion Attorney General, Paul Morrison, issued a letter “clearing” Planned Parenthood of any wrong-doing. This letter disturbed Judge Richard Anderson, who was the custodian of the evidence and the judge who had been involved in overseeing Kline’s investigations.
Six months later, Morrison was forced to resign in disgrace amid a scandal involving his attempts to persuade his illicit lover in the DA’s office to obstruct Kline’s abortion investigations.
Finally, in October, 2007, Kline filed the charges but the new Attorney General, Steven Six, who was appointed by pro-abortion ex-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius placed a gag order on Judge Anderson and the evidence against Planned Parenthood. Anderson was told not to comply with the District Attorney’s subpoenas.
Two judges have determined that the files show “probable cause” that the abortion business violated state abortion laws and falsified medical records. Kline legally received the records during his investigation of Planned Parenthood and transferred them to his new office when he became the county attorney.
The records showed, according to Anderson, that the age of the babies involved in the abortions had been altered to hide the fact that Planned Parenthood was engaging in illegal late-term abortions. Kline has also said Planned Parenthood engaged in a felony by making copies of state health department abortion reports that it failed to keep on file as required by law.
