Posted on Fri, May. 02, 2008

The state's highest court on Friday unsealed a lawsuit by a Planned Parenthood clinic against a prosecutor who has charged the clinic with violating Kansas' abortion laws and manufacturing false documents.

The suburban Kansas City clinic, Comprehensive Health, wants the Supreme Court to order Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline to return edited medical records from 30 patients' files.

Kline obtained the documents when he was attorney general, before he became the county's prosecutor in January 2007. Kline filed criminal charges against the clinic in October, partly based on those documents.

The Overland Park clinic also wants the high court to hold Kline in contempt, an action that could subject him to a fine or other sanctions.

Attorney General Steve Six is pursuing his own lawsuit seeking the return of the medical records to Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. It alleges that Kline violated a previous Supreme Court order on handling medical records, something Kline says isn't true.

The Supreme Court scheduled arguments from attorneys in the lawsuit against Kline for June 12, including whether Kline should be cited for contempt. It told the attorneys in Six's case to submit written arguments by May 22 on whether it should be dismissed.

The clinic filed its case with the Supreme Court in June 2007, asking it to be sealed, a request the justices honored. The attorney general's office filed its case two months later, also asking it to be sealed.

It's highly unusual for the Supreme Court to seal a case, and its doing so spawned a legislative bill to make it more difficult. Later, both Kline and the clinic said the cases didn't need to remain sealed.

Kline said Friday that Planned Parenthood has been trying to prevent him from prosecuting its clinics for violating state law. Abortion opponents also argue that the state attorney general's office wants to protect Planned Parenthood because abortion rights activists were aggressive in efforts to defeat Kline when he ran for re-election in 2006.

"This was harassment," he said of Planned Parenthood's lawsuit. "It's a criminal defendant suing a prosecutor personally."

Planned Parenthood has repeatedly said that Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, sought to prosecute the clinic to further his political goal of restricting abortion. It has denied any wrongdoing as Kline has proceeded with 107 criminal charges in district court, including 23 felonies.

"I am pleased that, finally, the truth is coming out regarding the nature and extent of Mr. Kline's activities," said Pedro Irigonegaray, a Topeka attorney representing Planned Parenthood.

In June 2007, the attorney general sent Planned Parenthood's attorneys a letter saying that a review of the evidence gathered by Kline, after Kline left that office, found no wrongdoing. Kline obtained medical records through what's known in Kansas law as an inquisition, an investigation supervised by a district judge.

The attorney general's lawsuit named the supervising judge, Richard Anderson, of Shawnee County, as the defendant.

"It is the position of the attorney general's office that because the inquisition has been closed, the private medical records should be returned," said Six spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett. "Our goal has always been to protect women's private medical records."

In his criminal case, Kline alleges that in August 2006, Planned Parenthood manufactured or forged reports it is required to file with the state health department when it performs late-term abortions. He also accuses the clinic of violating restrictions on those procedures in 2003 and failing to maintain proper records from 2003 to 2006.

Planned Parenthood is challenging Kline's right to have the records as district attorney.

"Clearly, if he has illegal possession of the records, then he doesn't have the necessary evidence with which to proceed," Irigonegaray said.

Kline obtained the edited medical records in October 2006, after a lengthy legal battle with Planned Parenthood that included a Supreme Court ruling on how those records would be handled. The court spelled out guidelines for protecting patients' privacy.

Kline lost the 2006 attorney general's race a week after obtaining the records. Days before leaving that office, Kline forwarded copies to the Johnson County district attorney's office, where Republicans had chosen him to fill a vacancy.

Kline has noted that he had Anderson's permission to forward the records and that law enforcement officials routinely share information.

Irigonegaray said Kline violated the Supreme Court's guidelines on medical records through "a variety of behaviors." Kline said the allegation is untrue.

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The cases are Comprehensive Health v. Phill Kline, No. 98,747, and Stephen N. Six, attorney general, v. The Honorable Richard Anderson, No. 99,050.

On the Net:

Kansas Supreme Court: http://www.kscourts.org

Planned Parenthood: http://www.ppkm.org

Johnson County district attorney: http://da.jocogov.org/

Attorney general's office: http://www.ksag.org