evolution

19 misdemeanor counts, for “technical” violations of the law. All of the Kansas outlets have it, so I’ll give you the Eagle link, since that’s Tiller’s home turf.

TOPEKA – TOPEKA — The state’s attorney general filed 19 misdemeanor charges Thursday against a high-profile abortion provider, alleging the doctor had an improper financial relationship with a consulting physician on late-term procedures.

Attorney General Paul Morrison alleges that George Tiller of Wichita had a financial relationship with physician Ann Kristin Neuhaus of Nortonville. Neuhaus consulted on the 19 abortions, which were performed in 2003. Tiller is among a few U.S. physicians who perform late-term procedures.

Kansas law allows some late-term abortion only if two doctors conclude it is necessary to prevent a mother’s death or “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function.” The law requires that the two doctors have no financial or legal ties.

Under state law, Morrison said, only the physician who performs the abortion can be charged.

He filed his charges in Sedgwick County District Court. Each count is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

“It’s really pretty simple,” Morrison told reporters during a news conference. “We’re alleging there was a financial relationship between the two.”

Morrison was not more specific about the relationship, except to say that it probably wouldn’t have been apparent in public records.

Attempts Thursday to reach Neuhaus were unsuccessful. Tiller’s lawyers, Lee Thompson and Dan Monnat, issued a written statement declaring their client’s innocence.

Which, of course, means we’ll be seeing more fun stories like this in the media for months to come. I really don’t have much to add to what’s in the story, because if I said what was in my black heart right now I’m quite sure I’d alienate 95% of my remaining readership.

The abortions in question in both Morrison’s and Kline’s charges involved women who were more than 21 weeks pregnant and whose fetuses were able to survive outside the womb. Under a 1998 law, that’s when two doctors must reach a conclusion about the mother’s potential death or irreversible injury to “a major bodily function,” which has been interpreted to include mental health.

Kline had alleged Tiller violated the law by providing abortions to patients who were suffering from problems such as anxiety and single-episode depression. He hired a former psychiatry director at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore as an expert witness, who said none of the diagnoses fit the law and that most psychiatrists, including himself, thought no psychiatric reasons could justify an abortion.

But Morrison said in justifying such an abortion, a patient’s condition when she consults with the abortion provider isn’t the issue — only the potential problems she faces if her pregnancy continues. The law also doesn’t say that doctors have to give a more specific justification than preventing serious and permanent harm, he said.

Because that’s an area where you’d want as much ambiguity as possible.

Cheers!

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 18:28 and is filed under kansas, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.