Topeka ? Three tissue samples from abortions performed on girls age 13 or younger have been sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and could be used for inquiries into child rape, a legislative committee was told.

An official from the attorney general’s office on Tuesday told the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations that abortion doctors have sent tissue samples from three aborted fetuses to the KBI since July 1, as mandated by a law requiring that the samples be collected from girls younger than 14 who seek abortions.

The Legislature’s theory behind the policy is that those girls are victims of rape. Kansas’ consensual age for sex is 16, although consensual sex between people 14 to 19 years old is exempted, leading to samples only being required from younger girls.

Peter Brownlie, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, called it an “unfortunate law” with which he and his staffers were doing their best to comply. He said the measure takes child rape cases out of the hands of social services groups, who have more experience handling such sensitive issues, and gives them to law enforcement.

The committee considered preliminary regulations from the attorney general’s office for collecting the samples. Final regulations will go into effect after an Oct. 5 public hearing.

Last year, state health officials reported 30 abortions in Kansas on girls younger than 14, out of more than 11,000 performed that year. Nineteen of those girls were from out of state.