It's sometimes said that timing is everything. That statement is particularly applicable to the political arena, and there is, perhaps, no more savvy politician in Kansas than Atty. Gen. Phill Kline.
That's why the timing of Kline's decision to file a lawsuit against Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and other state officials over issues related to Kansas abortion laws seems notable.
Kline claims that he was required by the Kansas Legislature to pursue the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in Shawnee County District Court. According to a spokesman for Kline's office, "We did what we were compelled by the Legislature to do."
That claim is based on House Resolution 6003 passed in 2002, before Kline was even elected to office. The resolution requires "the attorney general to bring action to determine certain issues of law concerning unborn children and to seek a permanent injunction to prohibit the expenditure of state funds for the purpose of terminating the lives of innocent human beings including the unborn."
This hot-button resolution was debated during the 2002 campaign between Kline and his Democratic opponent, Chris Biggs. Kline said he would pursue the litigation; Biggs said he would not. Former Atty. Gen. Bob Stephan, who endorsed Kline in the race, also weighed in, questioning the validity of the House order and saying that it would be a futile effort to try to fight federal abortion law in state court. "Any lawyer can file anything," Stephan told the Journal-World in October 2002. "I can't imagine anyone being successful. You could go ahead and file it and pamper the Legislature and then get your tail kicked out of court."
Nonetheless, Kline has decided to pursue the issue. As Stephan said, "Any lawyer can file anything," and Kline has ensured he won't get his own "tail kicked out of court," by asking state Rep. Lance Kinzer, a fellow abortion opponent and Republican from Olathe, to actually file the case.
An interesting question, however, is why, if Kline is only pursuing this action because of the intense pressure brought to bear by the Legislature, the attorney general waited three years to file this lawsuit. If it was such a high priority, it would seem the attorney general would have attacked this issue immediately after taking office in 2003 rather than waiting until late in the third year of his four-year term.
But again, timing is everything. What better time to attack the governor and seek support from the socially conservative branch of his own party than in the year leading up to a re-election bid? A lawsuit against the sitting governor might have been an even bigger card to play if Kline hadn't decided not to seek the GOP nomination for governor in 2006.
Kline's case will be considered by Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock, who is no stranger to high-profile cases and ruled against the state in the school finance lawsuit that still is before the Kansas Supreme Court. Whether Bullock finds merit in the lawsuit or simply dismisses it remains to be seen, but the timing of the action and the publicity that will accompany it makes Kline a winner either way.
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