Operation Rescue has produced the most comprehensive timeline available concerning events that have transpired in efforts to bring Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri to justice. This Planned Parenthood affiliate operates an abortion clinic in Overland Park, Kansas, known as “Comprehensive Health.” That abortion clinic has been the center of these events.
The timeline begins at Phill Kline’s swearing in as Kansas Attorney General in 2003, and proceed to the present day. We hope this will be an increasingly useful resource for those in the public and in the media who are endeavoring to track the often complex events concerning efforts to prosecute Planned Parenthood in Kansas.
Links have been provided for more information or documentation for most entries. Those without links are based on public court records. This timeline will be updated regularly.
Entries have been color coded for your convenience as follows:
BLUE ENTRIES relate to events associated with Kline’s inquisition of Planned Parenthood as Kansas Attorney General.
ORANGE ENTRIES relate to events associated with Kline’s criminal investigation and prosecution of Planned Parenthood as Johnson County District Attorney.
TURQUOISE ENTRIES relate to Attorney General Paul Morrison’s so-called investigation of Planned Parenthood.
GREEN ENTRIES relate to events associated with secret Planned Parenthood/Morrison/Six lawsuit against Phill Kline at the KS Supreme Court to remove incriminating evidence against Planned Parenthood from his possession (Comprehensive Health, Six v. Kline).
PURPLE ENTRIES - relate to events associated with the secret suit wherein the Attorney General is suing Judge Richard Anderson at the KS Supreme Court to remove incriminating evidence against Planned Parenthood from his posession (Six v. Anderson).
BLACK ENTRIES relate to events associated with the citizen-called grand jury.
RED ENTRIES relate to miscellaneous events that have a bearing on efforts to bring Planned Parenthood to justice.
(For a similar timeline related to efforts to bring Kansas abortionist George R. Tiller to justice, click here.)
Timeline In Legal Cases Concerning Planned Parenthood In Overland Park, Kansas
January 6, 2003 – Phill Kline, a former Kansas legislator, is sworn in as Kansas Attorney General and later begins investigations of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, an abortion mill in Overland Park, Kansas, and abortionist George R. Tiller of Wichita, which initiates a three year battle to obtain evidence contained in abortion records.
September 21, 2004 – At the request of Attorney General Phill Kline, Judge Richard Anderson issues subpoenas for 90 abortion records from Planned Parenthood and Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services (WHCS). The abortion clinics were ordered to produce the records by October 5, 2005.
October 4, 2004 – Both Planned Parenthood and WHCS file motions to quash Kline’s subpoenas.
October 5, 2004 – District Court Judge Richard Anderson rejects the abortion clinic’s motion to quash subpoenas for abortion records and orders them to produce the documents by October 15, 2004.
October 8, 2004 – Both abortion clinics file a motion for reconsideration. Judge Anderson stays his order to produce the records while he considers their arguments.
October 21, 2004 – The District Court rejects the motions for reconsideration and orders the subpoenaed files be produced by October 28, 2004.
October 22, 2004 – A joint motion is filed by Planned Parenthood and WHCS asking the District Court to allow them time to redact patient identifying information from the subpoenaed abortion records.
October 26, 2004 – Planned Parenthood and WHCS file a Writ of Mandamus with the KS Supreme Court in an attempt to block enforcement of the subpoenas. All briefs are filed under seal.
October 27, 2004 – Planned Parenthood and WHCS file a motion with the District Court asking that the order to produce abortion records be stayed pending the outcome of their KS Supreme Court mandamus action.
October 28, 2004 – Judge Anderson grants a temporary stay of Kline’s subpoenas.
November 12, 2004 – Clinics file their full mandamus request with the KS Supreme Court.
December 2, 2004 – Kline files his response with the KS Supreme Court to the clinics’ writ of mandamus.
January 31, 2005 – The Kansas Supreme Court orders formal briefs be filed by Feb. 22, 2005
February 14, 2005 – The KS Supreme Court orders that the briefs be filed as open records. Earlier court records are to remain under seal.
February 18, 2005 – Both clinics file a motion to unseal all the records.
February 22, 2005 – Clinics file their briefs under the names Alpha and Beta Medical Clinics.
March 3, 2005 – Kline files brief with KS Supreme Court.
March 9, 2005 – The secret proceedings before the KS Supreme Court are officially unsealed.
June 9, 2005 – Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard by the KS Supreme Court on September 8, 2005.
September 8, 2005 – Oral arguments are heard by the KS Supreme Court.
February 3, 2006 – The Kansas Supreme Court rules that Kline is entitled to the abortion records. They establish a complicated redaction process to insure that the records will contain no patient identifying information. The Court says that the subpoenas must be reissued, and Kline promises to do so at an impromptu press conference in Wichita.
May 5, 2006 – Judge Richard Anderson stops a hearing concerning the Planned Parenthood and WHCS abortion records subpoenas when he discovers that an Associated Press reporter was in attendance. Operation Rescue calls for open hearings to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
May 15, 2006 – Judge Anderson rules to bar the public and the media from further hearings concerning Kline’s subpoenas of abortion clinic records.
October 24, 2006 – Kline finally receives posession of 90 hotly contested abortion records, three years after he asked for them and nearly 9 months after the KS Supreme court ruled that he was entitled to them.
November 2, 2006 – Operation Rescue exposes gross misrepresentations made by Tiller’s attorneys to the media about the release of abortion records that had been subpoenaed in criminal investigations of Planned Parenthood and WHCS.
November 6, 2006 – Planned Parenthood and WHCS file another mandamus action with the KS Supreme Court asking them to halt Kline’s inquisition into criminal conduct at their abortion mills.
November 7, 2006 – Kline is defeated for re-election to the office of Attorney General by pro-abort Paul Morrison, the Johnson County District Attorney who promised during the campaign to drop all criminal investigations of abortion clinics if elected.
November 30, 2006 – The Kansas Supreme Court denied the abortion clinic motion of November 6, 2008, and rules that Kline’s inquisition into criminal conduct at Planned Parenthood and WHCS is allowed to continue.
December 11, 2006 – Kline wins appointment to the office of Johnson County District Attorney, which will prompt an unusual job swap with Paul Morrison, who defeated Kline in November. Planned Parenthood is located within Johnson County.
January 7, 2007 – With permission from Judge Anderson, Kline forwards the abortion records he obtained during his inquisition to the office of the Johnson County District Attorney, which he assumed the following day.
January 8, 2007 – Pro-abort Paul Morrison is sworn in as Kansas Attorney General. Phill Kline assumes duties as Johnson County District Attorney.
March 27, 2007 - After being notified in January, 2007, that the abortion records involved in Kline’s inquisition were in the posession of Judge Richard Anderson, AG Morrison finally retrieved the records from Anderson’s office.
May 15, 2007 – Gov. Sebelius attends a Planned Parenthood event thrown in honor of her birthday. 240 pro-lifers show up to protest her involvements with an organization still under investigation for criminal conduct. Planned Parenthood’s newsletter reported that PP CEO Peter Brownlie led a conga line around the room in celebration of the governor’s birthday.
June 6, 2007 – Planned Parenthood files a writ of mandamus against District Attorney Phill Kline, asking for the return of the abortion records that he had obtained as Attorney General. At their request, the case continues under seal.
June 18, 2007 – Attorney General Morrison files a motion to intervene on behalf of Planned Parenthood in their sealed KS Supreme Court lawsuit against Kline in an attempt to strip the District Attorney of Planned Parenthood abortion records that are the basis of an ongoing criminal investigation against the abortion mill, located in Overland Park. If successful, Morrison’s motion would protect Planned Parenthood from further investigation and possible criminal charges.
June 26, 2007 – Attorney General Paul Morrison issues a letter “clearing” Planned Parenthood of criminal wrongdoing and informing them that abortion records will be returned to them. Morrison also informed Planned Parenthood that Kline possesses copies of the records and encourages them to make efforts to retrieve them from his office.
July 9, 2007 - Morrison files a new motion with Judge Anderson asking for all abortion documents to be surrendered to his office since his case against Planned Parenthood is now closed. Anderson refuses his motion out of concerns that evidence might be altered or destroyed.
August 2, 2007 - Attorney General Paul Morrison files a Writ of Mandamus under seal against Judge Richard Anderson with the KS Supreme Court for the purpose of keeping evidence in Anderson’s posession related to Kline’s inquisition as Attorney General from falling into Kline’s posession for use in his investigation through the District Attorney’s office.
September 4, 2007 - Morrison’s motion to intervene in the secret Planned Parenthood suit against Kline is granted. He now becomes an advocate for Planned Parenthood, using the Attorney General’s office to stifle an ongoing criminal prosecution.
September 30, 2007 – The Life Is For Everyone (L.I.F.E.) Coalition, comprised of Operation Rescue, Concerned Women For America, and Women Influencing the Nation announced that a petition drive had been launched seeking signatures to convene a grand jury to investigate Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas.
October 5, 2007 - The KS Supreme Court secretly denies Morrison’s motion to return incriminating documents in Anderson’s posession to Planned Parenthood. The Court orders that all records remain in the posession of Judge Richard Anderson.
October 8, 2007 – Operation Rescue releases evidence to support the allegations in the L.I.F.E. Coalition petition for a grand jury investigation of Planned Parenthood.
October 18, 2007 – District Attorney Phill Kline files a stunning 107 criminal charges against Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas. Twenty-three of the charges are felonies. The criminal case will be heard before Judge Stephen Tatum.
October 24, 2007 – Operation Rescue calls for a nationwide suspension of Federal funding to Planned Parenthood in light of the criminal charges filed against the Kansas PP organization.
October 26, 2007 – In a powerful show of unity, sixty pro-life/pro-family groups, including Operation Rescue, submit a letter to the U.S. Congress calling for a halt to Planned Parenthood funding.
October 26, 2007 - The L.I.F.E. Coalition submits to the Johnson County District Court nearly twice the signatures required by law to convene a grand jury to investigate Planned Parenthood.
November 2, 2007 – Petition signatures are certified in Johnson County, KS, meaning that a grand jury would be convened to investigate Planned Parenthood.
November 8, 2007 – Led by KS Sen. Sam Brownback, 13 senators join the effort to halt Federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
November 10, 2007 – Johnson County District Court announces that the citizen-called grand jury will convene on December 3 to investigate Planned Parenthood.
November 27, 2007 – Judge Kevin P. Moriarty granted Planned Parenthood’s motion to delay the seating of the grand jury until December 10, in order to give them time to file a mandamus action with the Kansas Supreme Court to stop the grand jury altogether.
November 30, 2007 – Planned Parenthood drops their plans for a KS Supreme Court mandamus action against the citizen-called grand jury after a similar motion on behalf of George R. Tiller failed.
December 9, 2007 – News breaks that Attorney General Paul Morrison had been caught in a sex and abortion corruption scandal. He had used his influence over his mistress, an employee of the Johnson County District Attorney’s office, to attempt to subvert investigations against Planned Parenthood and George Tiller.
December 10, 2007 – While Kansas reels under the Morrison sex and abortion corruption scandal, the citizen called grand jury is quietly seated and begins its investigation of Planned Parenthood.
December 14, 2007 – Morrison announces his resignation under intense pressure after being caught in a sex and abortion corruption scandal.
January 16, 2008 – Judge Richard Anderson testifies in a hearing in the Planned Parenthood criminal case that he believes that Planned Parenthood “manufactured” evidence and may have committed felonies to cover up for misdemeanors. He reveals that he consulted a police handwriting expert, who examined the documents and confirmed Anderson’s suspicions.
February 7, 2008 - Attorney General Stephen Six files a motion to replace Morrison as an intervenor on Planned Parenthood’s behalf in the secret lawsuit against Kline before the KS Supreme Court. That motion was granted on February 12.
February 8, 2008 - Attorney General Stephen Six moves to replace Morrison in his secret suit before the KS supreme Court to silence Judge Richard Anderson and his evidence that Planned Parenthood “manufactured” records to cover crimes.
February 15, 2008 – Planned Parenthood refuses to honor a grand jury subpoena for abortion records, prompting the L.I.F.E. Coalition to call for the grand jury to be extended until the records can be produced.
February 19, 2008 – DA Phill Kline files a brief with the Johnson County District Court showing that former Attorney General Paul Morrison knew that Planned Parenthood had falsified reporting documents before he issued his letter “clearing” Planned Parenthood last June.
February 22, 2008 – Judge Moriarty and the grand jury reject a “deal” that Planned Parenthood had made with grand jury special counsels to provide only parts of the records under subpoena.
February 26, 2008 – District Attorney Phill Kline filed a motion asking for Judge Kevin Moriarty to enforce the sole subpoena issued by a citizen-called grand jury investigating Planned Parenthood, and raised allegations that the grand jury has been so corrupted by irregular and often “bizarre” behavior by Special Prosecutors Larry McLain and Rick Merker, that it is not possible for the grand jury to rule one way or the other.
February 29, 2008 – Over the objections of the District Attorney’s office, Planned Parenthood reached an agreement with a grand jury allowing it to release censored information from subpoenaed abortion records, but not the records themselves.
March 3, 2008 – With a week yet remaining in their three-month investigation, the tainted grand jury disbands without indicting Planned Parenthood.
April 3, 2008 - Kline issued a subpoena to Judge Richard Anderson, ordering him to testify at a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 7, in the Planned Parenthood criminal case, and to produce fifteen documents from Kline’s inquisition that was conducted while he was the state attorney general. Later that day, Judge Anderson filed with the Kansas Supreme Court, informing them of the subpoena and his intention to comply with it. Five minutes later, according to time stamps on the records, Attorney General Stephen Six filed a motion asking for a protective order on all information related to Kline’s inquisition, and asking that the High Court quash Kline’s subpoena to Anderson.
April 3, 2008 – Judge Stephen R. Tatum postponed the April 7 hearing in the Planned Parenthood criminal case in order to consider a motion by the Kansas Department of Health And Environment (KDH&E) to quash a subpoena from the District Attorney for evidence in their possession.
April 4, 2008 - The KS Supreme Court ordered Anderson not to appear as commanded by Kline’s subpoena, and ordered him to maintain exclusive possession of the inquisition records. No legal basis was cited for this order.
April 21, 2008 – DA Kline files a brief in response to the KDH&E’s refusal to honor a subpoena for documents related to Planned Parenthood. At issue are records that Judge Richard Anderson has already testified had been falsified by Planned Parenthood.
April 22, 2008 – Operation Rescue asked the Legislature to take action against the corruption of the Executive and Judicial branches in that have been covering up for Planned Parenthood wrongdoing.
April 28, 2008 – Judge Tatum grants the KDH&E’s motion to quash Kline’s subpoena of incriminating Planned Parenthood documents in their possession.
May 2, 2008 – In a huge victory, the Kansas Supreme Court unsealed a secret lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood against District Attorney Phill Kline. Planned Parenthood was seeking to have the Court order Kline to return abortion records that are critical evidence in Kline’s prosecution of 107 criminal charges against the abortion giant. Also unsealed was the secret suit against Judge Richard Anderson pursued by Attorney General Stephen Six to conceal evidence that Planned Parenthood “manufactured” records to cover up crimes.
May 13, 2008 - Operation Rescue released four recently unsealed court records that show Attorney General Stephen Six actively undermining District Attorney Phill Kline’s prosecution of 107 criminal charges against Planned Parenthood.
May 18, 2008 - Operation Rescue’s release of documents is followed by an Associated Press story outlining the efforts by Six to prevent Kline from accessing evidence, and noting that such action could jeopardize Kline’s case against Planned Parenthood.
May 21, 2008 - Kline files a motion to intervene in Six. v. Anderson with the KS Supreme Court for the purpose of asking them to drop their gag order on Judge Anderson and allow him to testify and produce evidence that Planned Parenthood “manufactured records to conceal abortion-related crimes.
May 21, 2008 - Judge Stephen Tatum delays Kline’s preliminary hearing in the criminal case to allow the Supreme Court time to decide if Anderson should be allowed to testify.
May 22, 2008 - Under mounting public scrutiny and pressure, Attorney General Steve Six modifies his motion before the KS Supreme Court and indicates that all records in Anderson’s posession should not be returned to Planned Parenthood until all investigations and criminal cases conclude. Kline refiles his motion asking the KS Supreme Court to lift their gag order on Judge Anderson so he may testify in Kline’s prosecution of Planned Parenthood.
May 28, 2008 - Attorneys for District Attorney Phill Kline filed a brief containing attachments that include one set the hotly disputed KDH&E records that Judge Richard Anderson considered evidence that Planned Parenthood had “manufactured” evidence to cover for crimes. The documents also prove that PP lied about not doing abortions past 22 weeks, since the forms an abortion done at 23 weeks.
June 3, 2008 -Attorney General Steve Six files to District Attorney Phill Kline from intervening in Six’s suit against Judge Richard Anderson. Six sued the Judge in order to force him to return incriminating evidence to Planned Parenthood even though that evidence is currently being used by Kline to prosecute them on 107 criminal charges.
June 12, 2008 - Oral arguments are heard before the KS Supreme Court concerning whether Kline should relinquish abortion records in his possession that are currently being used to prosecute Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood and the Attorney General’s Office are suing Kline to strip him of the evidence. The court did not say when they would make a ruling.
July 18, 2008 – Judge Stephen Tatum agreed to indefinitely postpone Kline’s Planned Parenthood prosecution until the Kansas Supreme Court can rule on a dispute concerning abortion records on which the case is founded.
January 12, 2009 – After having defeated Kline for the Republican nomination in the primary and winning election in November, Steve Howe is sworn in as Kansas Attorney General and takes over the prosecution of the Planned Parenthood case.
May 1, 2009 - Sen. Tim HuelsKamp and Rep. Lance Kinzer hold a press conference and release an undercover recording showing a Planned Parenthood employee in Overland Park ignoring a clear case of child sex abuse and even said the rapist could pick up birth control for his victim. Later, Rep. Kinzer introduced the “Huelskamp Amendment” to the state budget in the House that would redirect tax dollars normally earmarked for Planned Parenthood to reputable health care facilities. It passed with overwhelming support in the House and later in the Senate.
May 7, 2009 – The KS Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments in the Planned Parenthood criminal case on May 13, 2009. This is the first movement in this case in ten months.
May 13, 2009 – The KS Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Planned Parenthood criminal case regarding subpoenas requested by the prosecution. The ruling, expected before the end of June, could determine if this case moves forward, or is dropped.
May 15, 2009 – An amendment that would have defunded Planned Parenthood passed easily out of the Kansas legislature. The amendment passed with the help of an undercover tape produced by Operation Rescue, showing a Planned Parenthood employee ignoring a clear-cut case of child sex abuse. Gov. Mark Parkinson later vetoed the amendment.
