Pro-life Kansas Senators’ letter cements stall on Six

U.S. Sens. Moran & Roberts (KS Health Institute photo)

Kansans for Life applauds U.S. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran for their actions causing the Senate Judiciary to halt further consideration of former Kansas AG Steve Six for the 10th circuit appeals court.

Both pro-life Senators sent a letter Monday asking that the judiciary committee not process Six’s nomination and the Democrat committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, announced this morning that the committee would not proceed with Six today. (More details are in this AP story.)

This looks like a dead end for Six but it is not technically over until President Obama withdraws the nomination.

Kansans for Life’s well-documented opposition to Six includes his actions to gag a judge, keep state reports unaccessible, and refuse redacted medical files to a Wichita grand jury (see here  and here and here).

Six acted in a highly partisan and indefensible way to inhibit abortion business prosecutions and continue with the pro-abortion actions of his predecessor, Paul Morrison.

An endorsement letter of Six from retiring 10th Circuit judge Tacha seemed to promise that Six would act impartially when he wasn’t “required to factor in policy calls that are required in the executive branch.”  That was a tacit admission that, as Attorney General, Six had bowed to the abortion protection demands of then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Those who want to express their gratitude to the Senators may contact their local offices or use email to thank them; here are Roberts’ office contacts and Moran’s office contacts.

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PP deal & unenforced subpoenas, not Kline, hurt jury

Maxwell: stunned & horrified at PP deal

Wednesday was the second day of the second set of Kansas judicial administrative ethics hearings for Phill Kline. (Read a thorough recounting of yesterday’s testimony at KansasWatchdog.)

The charges this week arise from the disgruntled jury foreman in a citizen-petitioned Johnson County grand jury impaneled from Dec 2007-March 2008.  The presiding judge did not enforce subpoenas of abortion records and so the jury went home without indictments.

Basically, the foreman– without input from other jurors– had negotiated a secret sweetheart deal for Planned Parenthood that blew up in her face, despite the help of presiding Judge Kevin Moriarity and the two legal advisors (Larry McClain and Rick Merker) he assigned to the jury as a counterpoint to the District Attorney’ s office.

Steve Maxwell, (Johnson County senior prosecutor at the time) commented that

the deal “stunned and horrified” him and his boss, Kline, and would have prevented any further criminal prosecution of Planned Parenthood.

The foreman’s key accusation is that Kline’s office misled the jury about the operative law governing the reporting of child sexual abuse.  However, testimony read from the record shows the jury was instructed properly on the law, but the foreman (herself an attorney) remained confused / obstinate / or badly counseled by the outside attorneys.

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Kansas prosecution vs Planned Parenthood moves forward

Planned Parenthood of Kansas Mid-Missouri is one step closer to trial, and they can no longer rely on patient privacy stalling tactics, or an abortion-protecting AG, to buy them more time.  A four-day pre-trial hearing is set for Oct. 24 to tackle 23 criminal charges that PP falsified patient records.

In court Friday, Judge Tatum failed to grant special arrangements (for factually insupportable threats to patient privacy) that Planned Parenthood had petitioned for in April (see here), as the prosecutors assured the court that all records are “under lock and key”.

Current Johnson County District Attorney, Steve Howe, and assistant Chris McMullin– both seasoned prosecutors–rejected Planned Parenthood’s demands as unreasonable and quite insulting:

“The Office of District Attorney for the Tenth Judicial District has vast experience in presenting evidence of a sensitive nature in open Court…For instance, this office routinely prosecutes sexual assault cases. Victim records, including colposcope photographs of genitals, are presented in court, in a discrete manner. Pornography depicting minors is routinely presented in court. Are these items any less deserving of privacy and respect? The litigants have clear direction from this State’s highest Court regarding the handling of the patient records, and these directions will be followed. There is no need for expensive, complicated additional procedures to correct a problem that does not exist.”

The prosecutor’s written, filed response (here) also berated Planned Parenthood for trying to “insinuate itself into the process of a lawful subpoena of government records” and for incorrectly “lumping together” patient medical records with limited-information statistical reports as if both need the same types of protective handling.

This intentional mischief of mischaracterizing types of evidence, and the personal information contained (and not contained) within, has served Planned Parenthood well in confusing the media, and the public, in these criminal proceedings, as well as in the 2007/2008 citizen-petitioned grand jury against Planned Parenthood.

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KS AG Schmidt hires outside experts for abortion lawsuits

AG Schmidt hires help vs abortion lawyer 'army'

UPDATE Wed. July 20: Schmidt defends outside hires for abortion lawsuits
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt just made a great hire –former KU law dean, Stephen McAllister—to handle the lawsuit against our new state abortion facility licensure law.

McAllister served as a clerk to former U.S. Supreme Court justice Byron White and sitting justice Clarence Thomas. He has been Special Counsel to the Kansas House.  As Solicitor General in 2007, McAllister wrote a masterful defense of the state late-term abortion law.

In related news, Schmidt hired a private law firm (Foulston Siefkin of Wichita) to defend the state in the Planned Parenthood suit over family planning money that the abortion business no longer qualifies for. (see earlier posts here and here)

The KCStar and AP report that Schmidt said he was following past practice, as previous attorneys general did for special topics that are resource intensive, like school finance, water boundaries, and, now, abortion.

With 10 attorneys on staff handling more than 600 cases, Schmidt said he had to seek outside legal help, when faced with “a small army of out-of-state lawyers.”   Schmidt continued,

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Six vote delayed despite mentor’s promise he’ll behave

Tacha, Six's mentor, promises he'll behave

The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary committee once again deferred a vote on the court of appeals nomination of Steve Six.

This is great news for pro-lifers in the 10th circuit states of Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and dismal news for the abortion interests suing new pro-life laws in those states, which—on appeal—could go to the very court Six wants to join.

The delayed vote came despite a letter campaign of support from deans of his alma mater law school, past Kansas AG Bob Stephan and 29 Attorneys General.

But it was the letter from the retired judge, Deanell Tacha, whom Six wants to replace, and for whom he clerked in 1993-94, that was the most telling:  Tacha seemed to promise that his protection of abortion interests under Gov. Sebelius was over!  Tacha’s letter was quoted by the Associated Press and LJWorld as saying:

“Six had to make difficult decisions as attorney general and as an appellate judge he wouldn’t be required to factor in policy calls that are required in the executive branch.”

“Instead, I know from working

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Planned Parenthood hearing set, another business complains

August 1 is the newly-set hearing date for Planned Parenthood of Kansas Mid-Missouri to plead their case that their “free speech” rights have been violated because they no longer qualify for approximately $330,000 in Title X family planning funds.

But another private business is also complaining that they no longer qualify for $39,000 in tax-funded help – the Dodge City Family Planning clinic.

The southwestern Kansas facility complains they lost funding even though they do not have abortion connections, but the new Kansas Title X priority is silent on abortion. (see section 57 at Kansas 2011 Budget)

Unlike some other states that specifically ‘defunded’ the abortion giant Planned Parenthood, the Kansas budget for July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012 instructs the department of health to prioritize Title X to full-service health facilities: first, to public health clinics, and second, to private hospitals and clinics.

Thus, all Title X recipients must offer primary and preventative care, which –by definition– cuts out specific-agenda health facilities that offer only sex-related services.

Kansas has the right to adjust financial priorities, and thus chose to use Title X to help support indigent comprehensive health care for young and old citizens.  The fact that at least one other family-planning-focused facility has been passed over– along with 2 Planned Parenthood businesses– just shows the recipient qualifications have nothing to do with “free speech.”

At the end of June, HHS notified Kansas that it will distribute $2.6 million in tax funding under the Title X family planning act.  Kansas has over 50 qualified health centers eligible for some of the funding, and those recipients must also match 40% of the Title X grant with local funds.

The distribution process has been progressing and, as reported in the media, some facilities have already been given Title X contracts.  By the end of August, KDHE must confirm their amended list of grantees with HHS.

Read related Lifenews story here.

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KS abortionist admits poverty incentive, dropped by KCK mill

Down & out Mila Means(KWCH photo)

Admitting that being the “poorest doctor in the state”  drove her bid to try opening an abortion business in Wichita, Kansas-licensed practitioner Mila Means was dubbed “not the ideological warrior many expected” in a New York Times profile this weekend.

Poor Mila, broke and in hock,(see this article) went to the stellar training center for “abortion care” (as our opponents call it) –the Central Family Medicine medicaid clinic in the lowest income area of Kansas City, Kansas, also doing business Aid for Women.

Since the late 1980s, this clinic has been the incubator for abortion malpractice and professional misbehavior by failed practitioners, who also were ‘broke and in hock’: Joseph Manley, Malcolm Knarr, Sherman Zaremski, Kristin Neuhaus, Krishna Rajanna. (Note: state medical board actions are not yet online for these practitioners, but KFL has the records.)

Although Means had not reported ever “working” at this site on her official Kansas medical license renewals in May 2010 or in May 2011, the Times reports

“Dr. Means’s work in Kansas City ended abruptly last month, after she had performed about 50 abortions, half her training goal, when the clinic shifted its focus to trying to stay open under the new state regulations that dictate requirements for the size of rooms at abortion clinics, the stocking of emergency equipment, medications and blood supplies, and ties to hospitals.”

Not only did she fail her “training” at arguably the worst medical facility in the state, her abortion supporters reportedly are not staying with her. The Times said,  “A second effort to establish an abortion clinic is under way, led by a group of prominent abortion rights advocates.The group has raised money but is still searching for a doctor…

The unnamed “prominent” group may just be the TrustWomen political action group, created by Julie Burkhart (formerly George Tiller’s right-hand operative) which has targeted Kansas, and hopes to open clinics.

The president of Planned Parenthood Kansas-Mid Missouri told the Times they have abandoned trying to find an abortionist for their Wichita facility, “after failing to find a local doctor willing to endure the expected harassment.”  Which begs the question, why don’t they want Means, as she is ready, willing and available?

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KS Planned Parenthood: 23% abortion rate, seeks donors

Trupiano hides 23% abortion rate

The “only-3%-of-our-business-is-abortion” lie is recycled by Michelle Trupiano, a “public affairs” spinmeister for Planned Parenthood of Kansas Mid-Missouri (PPKMM) with abortion operations in Overland Park Kansas, and Columbia & St. Louis Missouri.

Her comments in an interview here are dissected by Dr. Randy O’Bannon of NRLC (National Right to Life Committee, our parent group.)  O’Bannon writes:

“Trupiano repeats the well-worn claim that “Over 97% of our services are about prevention,” while abortion “makes up about 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services.”  The issue, of course, is not how many items are on the menu, but what it is that individual customers order and which item brings in the most money. The 97% and 3% mantra is repeated everywhere. But  in some of the harder to find fact sheets, PPFA, the national organization, admits that 12% of its clients receive abortions, not 3%.  At PPKMM, the percentage is apparently much higher. According to this website (at tab for Programs), 6,006 of its 26,553 patients received abortions in 2008, a whopping 22.6%.“

Although an audit of Indiana Planned Parenthood businesses found substantive evidence that abortion and non-abortion funds were impermissibly commingled, Trupiano claims:

“Let me reassert that no federal or state tax money goes to fund abortions. It’s like a brick wall —

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Adoption atty/ judge put on pro-abortion KS medical board

Richard Macias

Gov. Brownback has made his first appointment to the Kansas state Board of Healing Arts– adoption attorney and Sedgwick county judge, Richard Macias. (read AP interview here)

He will be the first, and only, attorney or judge on the 15-member board, sitting as one of three “public” members who are not medically-credentialed.

Abortion lobbyists are complaining that the well-respected Macias has taken on pro-life clients, yet Governor Sebelius appointed to the Board known pro-abortion individuals, including

• pro-abortion leader /state representative, Carol Sader,
• Dr. “Boo” Hodges,
• Planned Parenthood advisor and pro-euthanasia Center for Practical Bioethics head, Myra Christopher.

This state medical board has protected abortionists and shown an inability to kick out lousy doctors for over 2 decades up through 2008, under Larry Buening as general counsel and executive director.  See the expose in the Topeka Capitol Journal here.

Sebelius also appointed heavy campaign donors to the board, with possible conflicts of interest, read this summary.

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Court grants clinics’ injunction without full information

Father/daughter abortionists, Hodes & Nauser (image from MSNBC, Rachel Maddow show)

Kansas’ new abortion facility law went into effect Friday, July 1, but by 4pm, a court-order granted a temporary injunction against the entire law until a trial is held.  See KFL press release here.

The 2 Kansas abortion businesses that did not undergo the required inspection from the state health division (KDHE), joined in filing a lawsuit claiming

• there wasn’t enough time to comply with new regulations,
• the regulations were unneeded and onerous, and
• the entire endeavor is a plan to end abortion in Kansas.

Assistant Kansas Attorney General Steve Fabert defended the new regulations in court, and argued that the 2 clinics should be petitioning for administrative relief instead of halting the entire law through injunction. The fact that Planned Parenthood was granted a license indicated the regulations were not unreasonable.

“We are disappointed by the judge’s decision [but] he emphasized more than once that it was very early in the process

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