Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline intruded on people’s privacy rights and wasn’t acting for the common good of the state when he subpoenaed abortion records early in his first term in office, panelists at a forum said Tuesday night.

A majority of abortion records sought were on adult women in later stages of pregnancy, said Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. Fewer than 10 percent of the records were for minors.

Kline used “smoke and mirrors” when he maintained that he was searching for crimes against children by obtaining the records,” agreed Julie Burkhart, executive director of ProKanDo, a pro-choice group.

“The object was to create a chill” against any woman considering reproductive health care, Brownlie said.

Brownlie and Burkhart were two of four panelists taking part in a forum called “Sex, Religion and Kansas Politics” sponsored by the Douglas County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Also participating were Jana Mackey, director of the Kansas National Organization for Women, and Forrest Swall, from the Kansas University School of Social Welfare, who was filling in for Kansas Board of Regents member Bill Wagnon. Wagnon was unable to attend because he was stranded in Colorado after the snowstorm earlier this week.

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The panelists discussed a variety of issues and answered questions submitted by some in the audience of at least 60 people in the auditorium of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

Mackey noted that medical clinics have cooperated in the past when there was concern about a minor girl’s welfare in an abortion matter. She also argued that intrusion of privacy for the “common good” is supposed to be handled in the least intrusive manner, which she said Kline didn’t do.

Many laws are intended to complicate a woman’s attempt to get an abortion, Mackey said.

“The best way to avoid complications is to get it (abortion) early,” she said.

Concerning sex education in schools, a majority of parents want their children to have it, Burkhart said. She noted that parents can “opt out” their children from sex education classes.

“I think we’ve got a balance,” Brownlie said.