A.G. says clinic illustrates need to toughen regulation

Topeka ? Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline on Thursday called on lawmakers to approve legislation that would increase regulation of abortion clinics after showing what he said was evidence of a dangerous abortion clinic in Kansas City, Kan.

“This is evidence of a system that is broken,” Kline said after leading lawmakers through photographs, sworn testimony and police statements that described a clinic run by Dr. Krishna Rajanna.

“This is a place where no woman, no person, should have to undergo a medical procedure,” Kline said.

Kline said the photos were taken in August 2003 by an informant who visited the clinic, Affordable Medical and Surgical.

Rajanna, in a telephone interview, denied the allegations made by Kline and his top investigator, Thomas Williams.

“We have nothing to hide,” Rajanna said.

A reporter who visited the clinic Thursday said it appeared clean.

Abortion-rights supporters said Kline, who opposes a woman’s right to an abortion, was trying to make it harder for women to get abortions by pushing for a bill that has been approved by the House but has languished in the Senate.

But Kline said regardless of the differing viewpoints on abortion, the Legislature should support standards to protect women’s health.

Investigation under way

Jennifer McAdam, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts currently had authority to investigate allegations of substandard conditions at clinics.

“The Board of Healing Arts needs to investigate this situation and take care of the problem,” McAdam said.

Several lawmakers complained that the Board of Healing Arts was not acting on the allegations. But Larry Buening, executive director of the Board of Healing Arts, said the agency launched an investigation of Rajanna after receiving a complaint in February.

“It has been assigned, and it has been investigated, and it has gone to a review committee,” Buening said.

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He said the review committee would decide whether the state should file action against Rajanna, which if done would start a trial-like proceeding against the doctor. He expected the case to be resolved by May.

Allegations made

Rep. Bill Mason, R-El Dorado, and chairman of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, said he hoped Kline’s allegation would spur movement on the abortion clinic bill in the Senate.

Williams told lawmakers the photos they were seeing showed that aborted fetuses were kept in a refrigerator with frozen dinners, sodas and medicine. But it wasn’t clear from viewing the photos without explanation that the red object at the bottom of what appeared to be a Styrofoam cup was actually a fetus.

Williams said the photos also showed surgical instruments were stored in a bathroom, carpet was bloody and there were messy rooms and hallways and numerous other alleged health and safety hazards.

In a police statement taken during a theft investigation at the clinic, an employee who was a suspect in the fraud told police that Rajanna had been seen putting a fetus in the microwave and stirring it in his lunch. No charges were filed against the employee or Rajanna.

Lawmakers appeared to accept the allegations presented by Kline and Williams as fact and expressed disgust.

“Are you telling me that this is not against the law?” Rep. Arlen Siegfreid, R-Wichita, asked.

Kline said his office was looking into the matter.

Doctor’s denial

But Rajanna denied that he had microwaved a fetus. And he said his clinic was clean and safe and that Kline was on a political mission to restrict abortions.

“What they’re making is a political point, not a real reality,” Rajanna said.

Kline said the photos were taken in August 2003 and given to his office in March.

A reporter for The Associated Press visited Rajanna’s clinic on Thursday and reported that the facility appeared clean, though somewhat cluttered in one back room.

Rajanna said he had operated the clinic for about eight years and performed abortions for about 10. He earned his medical degree in 1963 and has been licensed to practice in Kansas since 1972.

According to the Board of Healing Arts, Rajanna has been fined twice.

In April 2000, Rajanna paid a $1,000 fine for dispensing prescriptions in violation of state statute. In June 2001, he again was fined $1,000 for failing to test a patient’s blood before performing an abortion or obtaining a copy of patient’s lab report on blood work.

J-W Staff ReportsKansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline defended legislative efforts to permanently ban gay marriage Thursday during an online chat on www.ljworld.com.Kline said decisions about gay marriage properly belong to elected officials and not courts, which have been instrumental in the progress of women’s and ethnic minority civil rights issues.Those groups weren’t represented in government prior to court decisions advancing their cause, he said.”There has never been a law prohibiting gays from holding office or voting, and today in America, gays wield significant political power,” Kline said.”My point is, this decision is best left to the Legislature, and the courts do not have justification to remove such issues from the legislative process.”The U.S. Supreme Court last year invalidated Kansas law making homosexual acts a crime. The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ordered that state to begin allowing gay marriages this spring.Kline also spoke about smoking bans, prison sentences and the 2006 gubernatorial race.