Kansas AG Gets Abortion Clinic Records

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 07:04:00 AM EST
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After a long legal fight, the records of two abortion clinics are now in the hands of the Kansas Attorney General.

The state attorney general said Tuesday night that his office has received the records of 90 patients from two abortion clinics and is reviewing them for possible crimes, the culmination of an effort that prompted concerns over patient privacy.

Now here's the b.s. The Attorney General says he wants the records to go after sex offenders, rapists and abortion doctors.

How many women provide a rapist's or sex offender's name when going for an abortion? Doesn't he really mean he's doing this just to go after doctors who performed the procedure?

Smoke and mirrors, folks. Once again.

Talkleft reported on the legal fight here. More from Feministing here, and on how this same Kansas attorney general wanted to require healthcare workers to report evidence of teen make-out sessions here.

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Kansas AG Gets Abortion Clinic Records | 6 comments (6 topical)

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kansas (none / 0) (#1)
by oldtree on Tue Oct 31, 2006 at 11:20:49 PM EST

kansas, one notable embarrassment for this country
frank zappa once offered the possibility of freaking out there
he was being kind.

More Republican Perverts (none / 0) (#2)
by aw on Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 12:01:37 AM EST

I'm sure they have no creepy, prurient interest in these womens/girls medical records, either.

What is it with these people? Can they only get off if sex is shameful, scary, and forbidden and women's bodies and sex lives subject to inspection?

How ironic (none / 0) (#3)
by Che's Lounge on Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 12:52:35 AM EST

Kline the Nazi.

How is this possible? (none / 0) (#4)
by David at Kmareka on Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 06:49:44 AM EST

How was Kline able to show probable cause for what any fool can see is nothing more than a fishing expedition? I fail to see how the AG met any reasonable interpretation of such and how any court could accede to his intrusive request.

This is disturbing and sets an unhealthy precedent. I feel badly for the women who might now be deterred from seeking treatment at any of these clinics.

probable cause? (none / 0) (#5)
by Deconstructionist on Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 07:17:32 AM EST

That's a good question and the article is of no help. Speculating, I'd suggest some possibilities:

The prosecutor had either statements from "insiders" or records establishing that abortions had been performed on minors in numbers that do not match the number of reports of possible sexual abuse of minors from the clinics. This would arguably raise the probability that the clinics had performed abortions on minors without (a) following Kansas law requiring healthcare workers to report suspected child abuse

The prosecutor could also have had statements from insiders alleging that the clinics falsified records to mislead as to the "cause" of pregnancies to evade parental notification laws.

He might also have had insider allegations that records were falsified to make impermissible late-term abortions appear to be permissible earlier-term abortions.

It's also certainly possible that some parents had learned of abortions performed on their daughters after the fact and complained to the prosecution. If in the course of investigating those allegations information from the minors was received indicating they knew records had been falsified at the clinics that could establish probable cause.

It's possible that one or more patients had filed civil actions against the clinics alleging medical malpractice and that the pleadings contained allegations of violations of criminal laws. Or, a former employee with a wrongful termination or similar action might have made such allegations in pleadings.

It's also not beyond the realm of possibility that the prosecutor used CIs to visit the clinics pretending to want abortions and record consultations where clinic personnel agreed to pperform abortions after the CI had related information which would have made the abortion illegal.

There might be a few other hypothetical scenarios where the prosecutor could have probable cause but those are the ones that first come to mind.

Kline's fishing expedition (none / 0) (#6)
by Joe Bob on Wed Nov 01, 2006 at 12:48:23 PM EST

Not too long ago I saw a television interview with Kline (can't remember where it was broadcast). I think his rationale, and I use that term generously, is thus: If, say, a 14-year-old girl were to receive an abortion that very fact is evidence that a crime may have been committed. Why? Because a 14-year-old can't legally consent to have sex.

I'm not sure if Nebraska has so-called 'Romeo & Juliet' laws, wherein minors of similar ages can't be prosecuted for statutory rape for having sex with each other. But if Nebraska doesn't, then any evidence of a minor below the age of consent engaging in sexual activity is the basis for a charge of at least statutory rape. In another scenario, say a high school senior aged 18 has sex with a sophomore aged 15. The senior is a legal adult and the sophomore is below the age of consent, ergo the senior could be subject to a charge of child sexual abuse.

The flip side of the coin is that if abortion records revealed that a 14-year-old girl were pregnant by her father or a much older adult male, there would indeed be evidence of a serious crime. However, I don't know how that evidence would be in an abortion clinic record unless it was information given by the girl. After all, it's not like they do DNA paternity tests on blastocysts.

Finally, here's how you can tell that Kline is more interested in harassing the recipients and providers of abortions than in ferreting out sex crimes: Under Kline's rationale, where else might one ostensibly find evidence of incest, statutory rape, and child sexual abuse? How about hospital maternity wards? Surely not all of the fetuses conceived in allegedly criminal circumstances are aborted. So, if Kline were being serious and even-handed about fighting sex crimes he would head down to the hospital, gather all the medical records of teenage mothers, and then investigate who impregnated them.