John Hanna, Associated Press —
An abortion doctor plans to ask for an investigation of the state attorney general and Bill O’Reilly over comments by the Fox television host that he got information from Kansas abortion records, the doctor’s attorneys said Saturday.
Dr. George Tiller said he will ask the Kansas Supreme Court on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and take possession of the records of 90 patients from two clinics.
Attorney General Phill Kline obtained the records recently after a two-year battle that prompted privacy concerns. He has said he sought the records to review them for evidence of possible crimes including rape and illegal abortions.
During a Friday night broadcast of “The O’Reilly Factor,” the conservative host said a “source inside” told the show that Tiller performs late-term abortions when a patient is depressed, which O’Reilly deemed “executing babies.”
O’Reilly also said his show has evidence that Tiller’s clinic and another unnamed clinic have broken Kansas law by failing to report potential rapes with victims ages 10 to 15.
A spokeswoman for Kline, who received redacted copies of the records Oct. 24, said Saturday he doesn’t know how O’Reilly obtained the information.
Saddam Hussein has been found guilty and sentenced to death – big surprise! The trial (which I might add nobody has been following) was delayed two weeks ago, and lo and behold, the sentence comes down three days before the elections! Now we know why Bush and Rove have been sauntering around with smiles on their faces. Apparently the Iraqis are also questioning the timing of the verdict.
Privacy is a BIG issue in the medical field. Relatively recent legilation has prompted doctors to rethink a lot of security-related procedures. There’s a huge liability.
We need to recognize for future discussion with righties this is NOT the same as reporting what our government is doing. It’s our government; WE are the boss and we can’t make good decisions without information. The facts about what our government does is OUR property. (Details about exact events and clandestine operations may properly be classified, but even those would be subject to Congressional review.)
Personal medical information is a TOTALLY different issue. It’s not PUBLIC. The fact that Bill did not name names is not the issue; if he obtained personal records, I wonder about the liability, criminal and civil. It is appropriate for the government to obtain summary information – statistics – and that may be public. If the Atorney General divulged personal info to the press he obtained for an investigation, he should be prosecuted. If Bill obtained personal information and that was the basis for the story, he should be sued.
the conservative host said a “source inside†told the show that Tiller performs late-term abortions when a patient is depressed, which O’Reilly deemed “executing babies.â€
Because, gee whiz, being told that the baby you’d been hoping for for six or seven months has no brain makes you perfectly happy.
Most of the late term abortions are done because the fetus will not survive outside the womb, the fetus is already dead, or because there are serious, serious medical complications. No woman is going to be thrilled to find this out. It doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t have access to an abortion.
This evil clown is heartless and clueless.
My Ukrainian father asked me a question over 30 years ago. “What would you do if you had a small farm and had to choose between the life of your child and the life of your wife?”
I stammered something about loving my wife, but the child having a life ahead and the mother having already lived…
My father looked at me and said, “I thought the same way as you do. Until my Grandfather explained the reason why for centuries, forever, it’s the wife. Who will feed the child? Who will take care of it? Who will watch it? You can’t. YOU need to farm, someone else has to watch the children. WHO?.”
That’s the logic that has been around forever.
Abortion is something that no one want’s. It’s something that men and women need to be free to choose. However, it is now, and alway’s should, be the woman’s choice. Her body. Her choice…
What about HIPAA? If one of the patients (“Jane Roe”) wanted to sue that ratbastard Kansas AG for violating her privacy as stipulated under that legislation… well OK, not in front of this Supreme Court. Sigh….
With AG Kline looking like he will lose big on Tuesday, the investigation should proceed nicely.