Supreme Court unseals records in abortion cases

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The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday unsealed two lawsuits demanding that Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline return abortion records to Planned Parenthood.

The documents reveal the winding road the abortion records took before landing in the Johnson County courthouse. Kline filed a criminal case last fall against Planned Parenthood alleging the clinic falsified documents and performed abortions illegally.

Kline praised the court for making the documents public, saying they vindicate his handling of the records. They show how a district judge approved of Kline's transfer of abortion records from his office as Kansas attorney general to his new job as Johnson County district attorney in January 2007. And they show how he took great care to protect the identities of abortion patients, said Caleb Stegall, Kline's attorney.

Planned Parenthood sued Kline in June 2007 and asked the Supreme Court to place it under seal, a request the justices honored. The attorney general's office filed its own case two months later, also under seal, against the judge who oversaw Kline in an earlier abortion case. The Supreme Court will hear arguments from both sides June 12 before deciding the case.

Wichita Eagle