Topeka ? Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline has launched an investigation into two abortion clinics, saying medical records of nearly 90 women who had abortions might provide proof of criminal underage sex.

“As the state’s chief law enforcement official I have the duty to investigate and prosecute child rape and other crimes in order to protect Kansas children,” Kline said at a news conference.

The clinics were fighting Kline’s demands because they say the records, which include the patient’s name, sex history, birth-control practices and other private matters, should remain private.

“Isn’t anybody going to stop him?” asked Kansas Choice Alliance President Sharon Lockhart, of Leawood. “We are going down a path that is frightening. How could he have the right to look at those records?”

Kline’s second abortion-related press conference this week drew national media attention. The story was prominently featured on the Web sites of The New York Times and MSNBC.com.

On Tuesday, Kline announced that Dr. George Tiller, who operates an abortion clinic in Wichita, was subpoenaed by Texas officials for records in connection with the death of a Texas woman.

The Texas attorney general’s office said the subpoena wasn’t related to the woman’s death but with events that may have happened in Texas.

Inquisition started

Separate from the Texas case, Kline’s investigation — legally called an “inquisition” — into the two clinics came to light in a legal brief filed with the Kansas Supreme Court.

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The brief indicated Kline sought the medical records through a subpoena, and a Shawnee County judge ordered in October that the attorney general should be given the files.

Attorneys for the clinics are asking the Kansas Supreme Court to reverse that order.

The investigation relates to late-term abortions and minors who may have been sexually abused in 2003, according to the legal brief.

“The issue before the Supreme Court is whether a district court judge can issue a subpoena when the judge has probable cause to believe that crimes have been committed, including child rape,” Kline said.

Kline declined to answer whether his allegations were prompted by a specific instance. Abortion opponents have often cited a 2003 state report that showed 78 girls under age 15 received abortions in Kansas.

In 2003, Kline pushed to require health care professionals to report underage pregnancies, but a federal judge stopped him. In Kansas, sex involving someone under 16 years old is illegal.

Tiller responds

The clinics were not identified in the legal brief, but the attorneys who filed the request before the Kansas Supreme Court represent Tiller, whose Wichita clinic is known as a provider of late-term abortions.

Kline and Tiller are political enemies; Tiller has donated tens of thousands of dollars to defeat Kline.

But Kline said of his investigation, “This is about law enforcement.” He declined to comment further about the scope of the probe.

Except for the legal brief filed by the clinic attorneys, all documents in the case have been sealed. The inquisition is before Shawnee County District Court Judge Richard Anderson.

Tiller’s attorneys released a statement that said: “Kansas law presently requires medical providers to report the suspected abuse of children in a fashion that preserves the privacy of the patient. Dr. Tiller knows those laws and scrupulously follows them.

“Claims that anyone is trying to avoid or prevent legitimate legal inquiries about adherence to those laws are false.”

Clinic attorneys argued that Kline’s inquisition was a “fishing expedition.”

“These women’s rights will be sacrificed if the fishing expedition is not halted or narrowed,” the attorneys said.

The attorneys argued that turning over the records would violate the women’s privacy rights and rights to physician-patient privilege.

The state Supreme Court has not set a date on when it would decide the matter.