Kansas Supreme Court delays Grand Jury investigation of abortion provider Tiller to decide if panel should convene

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday delayed a grand jury investigation of abortion provider George Tiller and his Wichita, Kan.-based clinic until it determines if the panel should convene, the AP/Guardian reports (Manning, AP/Guardian, 10/27). Attorneys for Tiller earlier this month filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to block the grand jury investigation of him and his clinic.

Former Sedgwick County, Kan., Chief Judge Paul Buchanan earlier this month denied a motion filed by Tiller's attorneys that sought to dismiss a petition seeking to convene the grand jury. The antiabortion group Kansans for Life in September delivered the petition, which contained 7,857 signatures, asking the Sedgwick County District Court to convene a grand jury and appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate Tiller. Petitioners want the grand jury to examine late-term abortions that Tiller performed during the past five years and the reasons cited for the abortions.

Tiller's attorneys said that he has been investigated several times in the past year and that another grand jury investigation would be "unfair, harassing and bad faith." U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten in September ruled against the motion and suggested Tiller's attorneys refile the motion in state court. If the grand jury is seated, it will conduct at least the fifth investigation of Tiller since 2006, including a pending case in which state Attorney General Paul Morrison (D) has charged Tiller with 19 misdemeanors for allegedly violating a state law that requires an independent, consulting physician to approve some late-term abortions (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/26).

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Chief Justice Kay McFarland in response to Tiller's motion, which named Buchanan and Sedgwick County Chief Judge Michael Corrigan as defendants. The decision ordered Buchanan and Corrigan to respond by Nov. 16. There has not been a date set for the court to hear arguments about Tiller's motion (AP/Guardian, 10/27).

The Supreme Court did not disclose many details about its decision but said the review is necessary "by virtue of the unique circumstances of this case and to allow full consideration of the petition" from Tiller.

Reaction
"It is unconscionable to deprive the citizens of Kansas the ability to seek justice in this way," Troy Newman -- president of Operation Rescue, which led the coalition that sought signatures for the petition -- said. Julie Burkhart, director of the abortion-rights group ProKanDo, said, "These grand juries are nothing but a witch hunt," adding, "The process is being exploited by anti-choice activists who wish to take reproductive health care away from women." Lee Thompson, one of Tiller's attorneys, said that the grand jury is a "proceeding brought for harassment and in bad faith by the petition gatherers" (Carroll/Bauer, Kansas City Star, 10/26).

In related news, a coalition of antiabortion groups has submitted a petition to convene a grand jury in Johnson County, Kan., to investigate whether Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri's Overland Park, Kan., clinic Comprehensive Health is complying with state abortion laws, the AP/Guardian reports (AP/Guardian, 10/27).