Baseless Charges Filed Against Planned Parenthood
On Wednesday, October 17, Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline — an outspoken critic of abortion — filed 107 baseless charges against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM). The following day, PPKM CEO Peter Brownlie held a press conference to respond to the allegations made by Kline. According to Brownlie, "Phill Kline continues to further his political ambition of making abortion illegal by using unethical tactics in his role as district attorney. No health care provider should be threatened with felony convictions simply because elected officials oppose legal abortion."
The charges by Kline were immediately called into question by Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, who had previously determined that no basis exists for any legal action against Planned Parenthood. Morrison has said through spokesperson Ashley Anstaett, "We are skeptical that these charges have any merit, and we continue to wonder how much politics influenced Mr. Kline’s decision to file these charges."
Politics were certainly in evidence on October 25, when syndicated columnist Robert Novak continued the attack on Planned Parenthood, serving as the apparent mouthpiece for this bogus lawsuit.
Bolstering anti-choice hardliners, Novak trumpeted a letter to be sent to all Congress members urging the defunding of Planned Parenthood — an organization with a proven track record of providing the highest quality health care services. For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood has been helping patients prevent pregnancy, stay healthy, and plan families.
Novak and the anti-women’s health crusaders he defends are well outside America’s mainstream as they expand their baseless campaign of misinformation about Planned Parenthood.
Stay tuned for more news on this developing story.
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Quotes on Phill Kline
- "Kline just personifies the abortion debate...This is a guy who has never tried any cases and has a very marginal record as an attorney, and so it is very much seen, I think, even by the pro-life people, that Kline's personal beliefs are his No. 1 priority." - ABC News, October 22, 2007
- "Prosecutor seeks evidence of a crime at the expense of a medical patient's privacy. Health professionals object. Prosecutor says he'll arrest them if they stand in his way.... The sequence has a familiar ring to anyone who followed Phill Kline's turbulent term as Kansas attorney general. It's perturbing, but not surprising, to see him continue the pattern as Johnson County's district attorney." - The Kansas City Star, April 12, 2007
- "For us, one of the most satisfying results was the resounding defeat of Attorney General Phill Kline, an anti-abortion zealot who gained national notoriety by misusing his office to further his ideology. He tried to force health care workers to file reports on the sexual activity of teens, and to seize women’s confidential medical records. That gross assault on privacy and legal rights was a major issue in the campaign. The 58-to-42 landslide that elected a former Republican, Paul Morrison, was a victory for moderation and the rule of law." - The New York Times, November 15, 2006
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Published: 10.19.07 | Updated: 10.19.07
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