Olathe, Kansas – Motions filed by Planned Parenthood were unsealed yesterday by Judge Stephen Tatum in a criminal case involving 58 counts related to illegal late-term abortions. The abortion business is seeking dismissal of all charges.
Operation Rescue obtained the records that show efforts by Planned Parenthood to:
Discredit state’s expert witnesses because they are not abortionists. Deny applicability of a 2005 amendment extending the statute of limitations from two years to five. Bar terms from use in court including “late-term abortion”, “child”, “baby”, and “infant”. Allow Planned Parenthood attorneys to extensively question potential jurors about their religious beliefs. Prohibit prosecutors from asking about the cost of the abortions. Gag prosecutors from referencing handwriting discrepancies on the Termination of Pregnancy Reports that were submitted to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Deny the introduction of post abortion fetal weight testimony as a measure of viability, evidence that would show beyond doubt that the babies were viable at the time of their abortions.
Planned Parenthood is accused of failing to determine viability for at least 26 abortions in 2003. While they determined gestational age, they failed to apply more than a blanket designation of non-viability to babies 24 weeks and under. Kansas law at that time mandated a determination of viability at 22 weeks or later. Planned Parenthood is asking the court to prohibit testimony about post abortion fetal weights that could prove the babies were well beyond viability.
The charges are based on abortion records obtained through subpoena by former Attorney General Phill Kline after a grueling three-year legal battle with Planned Parenthood that was often obstructed by members of the administration of former governor, now HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Later in 2007, as District Attorney of Johnson County, Kline filed the criminal case against Planned Parenthood that originally consisted of 107 charges.
Forty-eight of those charges were dismissed by Judge Tatum after it was discovered that crucial evidence to support them had been destroyed by Sebelius appointee Steve Six during his tenure as Attorney General. A criminal investigation was ordered to determine who destroyed the evidence, but Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, a pro-abortion Democrat, closed the investigation without answering that question. To this day, no one seems to know what happened to the missing evidence even though evidence destruction is a crime.
District Attorney Steve Howe, who is prosecuting the case he inherited from Kline, has yet to answer the motions.
“Howe’s answers will be a great indication to us if he has the will to prosecute this case against the largest and most politically powerful abortion provider in the state,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation. “Will he do his duty, or allow himself to be cowed by political pressure? That remains to be seen.”
Planned Parenthood included an affidavit in support of its motions from abortionist Maureen E. Paul, M.D. who currently serves as Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood of New York City. However, Paul has a dark history of her own. She is the former CMO for Planned Parenthood Golden Gate from 2002 to 2005. That organization imploded due to corruption scandals involving financial mismanagement that forced it to disaffiliate from Planned Parenthood and later close altogether. In 2002, Paul oversaw staff abortionist Shelley Sella, who was employed part-time by George Tiller at the now-closed Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas. Tiller’s abortion business was also under investigation and joined with Planned Parenthood to block law enforcement from obtaining abortion files that contained incriminating evidence against both abortion businesses.
“Paul is far from unbiased and is working to protect her associates, because if they are convicted, it could mean that other affiliates are also breaking the law, and that could endanger their $300 million in Federal tax money they get each year,” said Newman. “If anyone should be disqualified from testifying, it is her.”
In the meantime, Planned Parenthood criticized two potential witnesses for the prosecution, Dr. Thomas Murphy Goodwin, a professor of maternal-fetal medicine and Dr. Mark Gillett, a family practice doctor, because they had no experience with outpatient abortion clinics. That argument was used unsuccessfully by another abortionist, Ann Kristin Neuhaus, in her medical license disciplinary trial to attempt to discredit the expert testimony of Dr. Liza Gold, who said that Neuhaus repeatedly failed to meet the standard of care when making late-term abortion referrals to Tiller.
“It shows Planned Parenthood’s arguments are bankrupt because they have to get internal sources to corroborate their stories, then they claim that anyone not as dirty as they can possibly testify about their dirt. It would be laughable if we were not talking about determinations that resulted in the brutal deaths of 26 viable, healthy babies,” said Newman.
But perhaps more disturbing were the motions filed by Planned Parenthood attorneys demanding special treatment if the case goes to trial. It seeks to devalue the lives of the viable babies by banning any terms that might allow them any dignity or shred of humanity. The motions asks Judge Tatum to ban terms such as “late-term abortion”, “child”, “baby”, and “infant”, and seeks to prohibit references to the aborted babies as “victims.”
Also disturbing is the motion to question jurors about their religious beliefs in order to weed out those who may oppose abortion on religious grounds.
“They want no one with a moral compass standing in judgment of them,” said Newman. “This leaves only those who support abortion eligible for the jury, and that is just as prejudicial to the state’s case. This motion exposes Planned Parenthood’s extreme bigotry against those whose faith differs from theirs.”
A scheduling conference has been set for July 11, 2012, when the court will determine how much additional time might be needed for responses. No trial date has been set and none is likely in the foreseeable future.
“The evidence in this case must be allowed to go to trial. This case has survived years of corrupt efforts to destroy it. That is a testimony to the validity of the charges,” said Newman. “Of course, Planned Parenthood will continue to fight this with everything they have because they know if this case is properly presented to a fair and impartial jury, they are doomed. That is all the more reason to take the facts to court and let the chips fall where they may.”
Planned Parenthood Criminal Case Timeline
