Topeka, KS — Yesterday, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius released a letter from the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts that raised more questions in the case of a Texas disabled teen who died after a third-trimester abortion procured at George R. Tiller’s abortion mill in Wichita, Kansas, last January. The letter notified Sebelius that the Board had cleared Tiller of allegations of wrong-doing.
However, the letter from KSBHA executive director Larry Buening to Sebelius dated November 23, 2005, indicated that Buening had informed her that a third party had filed a complaint against Tiller in the death of Christin A. Gilbert on January 26. Sebelius’ request for an investigation was not made until February 2.
“Why did Buening feel it necessary to inform Sebelius that a ‘third party’ had filed a complaint against Tiller in January?” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “I cannot imagine that it is his policy to inform the governor every time a complaint is filed. What made this complaint different than any of the hundreds of complaints the KSBHA receives each year? This revelation gives the appearance that Buening was giving Sebelius a ‘heads up’ about a potentially damaging investigation into a major campaign contributor involved in a suspicious death. This further gives the impression that Sebelius’ concern for the death of Christin Gilbert expressed a few days later was politically motivated to provide cover for her benefactor, abortionist George Tiller.”
“Did Sebelius and Buening conspire to cover for Tiller’s misdeed? That is a question about which the public deserves to know the truth,” said Newman.
The letter further indicates that Tiller had made the determination that Gilbert’s pregnancy would “cause substantial and permanent impairment of a major bodily function,” justifying the otherwise illegal third-trimester abortion.
“The abortion did more than impair Christin — it killed her,” said Newman. “If she had continued the pregnancy, at least she would be alive. And she would be alive if Tiller had even bothered to take her temperature on the second day of her abortion. Because of a fundamental of a lack of care and concern, a young woman is dead. We will not let this drop.”
“Buening’s letter is loaded with hints of political pandering and even suggestions of a conspiracy,” said Newman. “This obvious conflict of interest calls into question the integrity of the Board.”
Newman vowed to release plans within the next few weeks to pursue an independent investigation into Gilbert’s death.
Read Buening’s Letter to Sebelius dated November 23, 2005
