G
Guest
Guest
SF Chronicle - Jon Carroll, March 1, 2005
So now the attorney general of the state of Kansas, a longtime abortion opponent named Phill Kline, wants to obtain the complete medical records of 90 women who received abortions at two clinics in his state in 2003. The operators of abortion clinics, who have been dealing with the zealous Kline for many years now, say he's just on a fishing expedition, hoping to find anything that he can use to close down the clinics.
Kline, in a news conference, talked a lot about 10-, 11- and 12- year-old- girls being raped, although there is no evidence at all that the clinics treated even one such patient. Indeed, the subpoenas for the records do not mention either the age of the patients or the existence of charges of abuse -- Kline just wants the complete unredacted records of 90 private citizens of Kansas who, in 2003, made entirely legal decisions at entirely legal facilities.
Kline has been engaged in a 6-year struggle with Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who has also given money to Kline's political opponents -- Kline served in the House of Representatives of the Kansas Legislature before he became the attorney general. According to the New York Times, many people on both sides of the dispute see the subpoenas as another salvo in Kline's war with Tiller.
Before we try to untangle these strands, let's get some data provided by the state. In 2003, in Kansas, 78 girls younger than 15 received abortions. A total of 491 abortions were performed after the 22nd week of pregnancy, so- called late-term abortions, which Kansas state law allows only when "continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant women."
Note that "late-term" abortions are not the same as dilation and extraction abortions, also known as "partial-birth" abortions. "Partial birth" is a procedure, not a time period; the two are often and incorrectly conflated. "Partial-birth" abortions too are restricted (although not banned) by Kansas law. Given Kline's legislative history, it seems likely that he would go through the records looking for either kind of abortion so that he could second-guess the medical opinions and put one or more doctors out of business and in jail.
As is so often the case, the scary specter of child rape is being used to cloak other, more controversial political agendas. Again, there is no evidence that there were any unreported rapes of girls ages 10 to 12 in Kansas in 2003. The attorney general has no evidence that the crime he seeks to prosecute even happened. It's like subpoenaing the records of all dead people in order to determine if undetected murders had been committed -- except the dead people would worry less about their privacy being violated. The dead are very laid back about all that.
Also, since Kansas law criminalizes sexual contact with and by people younger than 15 regardless of gender, why have no medical records of boys been subpoenaed? In Kansas, if you are younger than 16 and pregnant, even if you carry the child to term, you are a felon. Why have no hospital records been subpoenaed? Kline says "the children are not a target," but it's the "children" who, under the law, actually committed the crime.
Not that I am suggesting that teenagers who have consensual intercourse should be arrested. I would love it, however, if every 12-year-old boy in the United States were sent to a one-week Responsibility Camp, where the use of condoms would be explained. Maybe boys should be encouraged to masturbate while wearing condoms -- see, it's not so bad. Meanwhile, the girls would go to Empowerment Camp, where famous female movie stars could reveal that they insisted on protection and yet, wowie zowie, the boys still liked them.
I know my ideas may be just a tad out of the mainstream, but really, the way to keep both sides happy in the abortion debate is to teach safe sex, so there are no unwanted pregnancies and thus no abortions necessary. Besides, there are too many people in the world already. You may have heard rumors to that effect.
Also: We are able to distinguish between degrees of murder under the law -- first degree, second degree, manslaughter. Why not degrees of statutory rape? There's a difference between a 15-year-old having sex and a 5-year-old being used for sex. In much of the world, most women are married off by the time they're 15. We may deplore this practice for reasons having to do with women's freedom, but it's not abnormal. None of this has much to do with Attorney General Kline and his repeated attempts to make an end run around Roe vs. Wade. None of this has to do with scaring women away from making legal choices about their lives, or scaring doctors away from providing them with guidance. It's just another face of government peering into the bedroom. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Good morning, citizens, we don't want anything from you except everything. If you have nothing to hide, why are you worried? Only guilty people fear the government.
So now the attorney general of the state of Kansas, a longtime abortion opponent named Phill Kline, wants to obtain the complete medical records of 90 women who received abortions at two clinics in his state in 2003. The operators of abortion clinics, who have been dealing with the zealous Kline for many years now, say he's just on a fishing expedition, hoping to find anything that he can use to close down the clinics.
Kline, in a news conference, talked a lot about 10-, 11- and 12- year-old- girls being raped, although there is no evidence at all that the clinics treated even one such patient. Indeed, the subpoenas for the records do not mention either the age of the patients or the existence of charges of abuse -- Kline just wants the complete unredacted records of 90 private citizens of Kansas who, in 2003, made entirely legal decisions at entirely legal facilities.
Kline has been engaged in a 6-year struggle with Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who has also given money to Kline's political opponents -- Kline served in the House of Representatives of the Kansas Legislature before he became the attorney general. According to the New York Times, many people on both sides of the dispute see the subpoenas as another salvo in Kline's war with Tiller.
Before we try to untangle these strands, let's get some data provided by the state. In 2003, in Kansas, 78 girls younger than 15 received abortions. A total of 491 abortions were performed after the 22nd week of pregnancy, so- called late-term abortions, which Kansas state law allows only when "continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant women."
Note that "late-term" abortions are not the same as dilation and extraction abortions, also known as "partial-birth" abortions. "Partial birth" is a procedure, not a time period; the two are often and incorrectly conflated. "Partial-birth" abortions too are restricted (although not banned) by Kansas law. Given Kline's legislative history, it seems likely that he would go through the records looking for either kind of abortion so that he could second-guess the medical opinions and put one or more doctors out of business and in jail.
As is so often the case, the scary specter of child rape is being used to cloak other, more controversial political agendas. Again, there is no evidence that there were any unreported rapes of girls ages 10 to 12 in Kansas in 2003. The attorney general has no evidence that the crime he seeks to prosecute even happened. It's like subpoenaing the records of all dead people in order to determine if undetected murders had been committed -- except the dead people would worry less about their privacy being violated. The dead are very laid back about all that.
Also, since Kansas law criminalizes sexual contact with and by people younger than 15 regardless of gender, why have no medical records of boys been subpoenaed? In Kansas, if you are younger than 16 and pregnant, even if you carry the child to term, you are a felon. Why have no hospital records been subpoenaed? Kline says "the children are not a target," but it's the "children" who, under the law, actually committed the crime.
Not that I am suggesting that teenagers who have consensual intercourse should be arrested. I would love it, however, if every 12-year-old boy in the United States were sent to a one-week Responsibility Camp, where the use of condoms would be explained. Maybe boys should be encouraged to masturbate while wearing condoms -- see, it's not so bad. Meanwhile, the girls would go to Empowerment Camp, where famous female movie stars could reveal that they insisted on protection and yet, wowie zowie, the boys still liked them.
I know my ideas may be just a tad out of the mainstream, but really, the way to keep both sides happy in the abortion debate is to teach safe sex, so there are no unwanted pregnancies and thus no abortions necessary. Besides, there are too many people in the world already. You may have heard rumors to that effect.
Also: We are able to distinguish between degrees of murder under the law -- first degree, second degree, manslaughter. Why not degrees of statutory rape? There's a difference between a 15-year-old having sex and a 5-year-old being used for sex. In much of the world, most women are married off by the time they're 15. We may deplore this practice for reasons having to do with women's freedom, but it's not abnormal. None of this has much to do with Attorney General Kline and his repeated attempts to make an end run around Roe vs. Wade. None of this has to do with scaring women away from making legal choices about their lives, or scaring doctors away from providing them with guidance. It's just another face of government peering into the bedroom. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
Good morning, citizens, we don't want anything from you except everything. If you have nothing to hide, why are you worried? Only guilty people fear the government.
