WICHITA, Kan. — In a unanimous ruling, the Kansas Supreme Court Tuesday thwarted an effort by accused serial abortionist George Tiller to stop a grand jury from issuing subpoenas to obtain medical records from him. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the grand jury has the right to issue the subpoenas.
“No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is worthless in possible violation of state law, and then try to keep medical records hidden that can provide valuable information to a grand jury,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. “Medical professionals across the board are required to follow specific laws and ethical practices in order to stay in business. Tiller’s clinic, too, was required to follow these requirements. We agree with the court’s decision to allow the grand jury to issue subpoenas so that it can do its job.”
ADF attorneys filed the friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a former Tiller patient, Michelle Armesto. The brief argues that grand juries should be able to access Tiller’s medical records so they can investigate potential criminal wrongdoing.
In 2003, Tiller performed an abortion on Armesto, who was a high school student about 23 weeks pregnant. The clinic did not obtain the two-doctor confirmation required by state law to perform the abortion, nor did Tiller or any of his staff perform any significant medical diagnosis on Armesto or her baby. Because she and her baby were perfectly healthy, the law regarding late-term abortions would have rendered Armesto ineligible to terminate her pregnancy at that time.
In a separate investigation, the Kansas Attorney General’s office has charged Tiller with failing to consult with an independent physician before performing a number of such abortions. Under the law, when an unborn baby is 22 weeks old and can survive outside the womb, even if on life support, the baby cannot be aborted without a finding from an independent physician that an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother or to prevent permanent loss of a major bodily function.
“People who profit from an innocent person’s death should not get to decide when it occurs,” said Oster. “That’s why the state law requires a second doctor’s opinion.”
A copy of the friend-of-the-court brief filed by ADF attorneys with the Kansas Supreme Court in
Tiller v. Corrigan on Feb. 25 is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CorriganAmicus.pdf. The court’s ruling is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CorriganOpinion.pdf.
A copy of the September 2007 affidavit containing Armesto’s sworn testimony in State of
Kansas v. Tiller can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ArmestoAffidavit.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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