Topeka ? Seeking re-election, Atty. Gen. Phill Kline doesn’t mention one controversial issue he started that has gained national attention.

Kline, a Republican, doesn’t talk about his efforts to gain access to the patient records of 90 women and girls who received abortions.

The case that put Kline on national television and in newspapers worldwide is nowhere to be found in his three-page statement of his background and accomplishments; it is not mentioned in a one-page summary and is nonexistent in his glossy, poster-sized fold-out campaign piece called “Blueprint for a safer Kansas.”

But his opponent, Johnson County District Atty. Paul Morrison, a Democrat, isn’t shy about reminding voters.

Morrison said the case is an example of how Kline, a staunch opponent of abortion, has allowed his personal agenda to divert attention from more important matters with which the attorney general should be concerned.

“I do think one of the issues of this is all about the misdirection of time, energy and resources by the attorney general’s office. That is a massive issue in this campaign,” Morrison said.

Inquisition

Shortly after taking office in 2003, Kline initiated an investigation into clinics operated by Dr. George Tiller in Wichita and Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri in Overland Park.

In 2004, Shawnee County State District Court Judge Richard Anderson, at Kline’s urging, issued subpoenas for medical records of 90 women and girls. Kline alleged the records could show instances of illegal late-term abortions and child abuse.

The inquisition became public as the clinics fought the subpoenas, appealing to the state Supreme Court and saying that if the subpoenas were allowed they would invade patients’ privacy and cause women to be afraid in the future to seek legal abortions.

The state Supreme Court said Judge Anderson must ensure patients’ privacy before allowing the investigation to continue.

Other matters

While the case has drawn national attention and become a rallying point for both supporters and opponents of abortion rights, Kline says he spends most of his time on other matters.

“The media defines an impression that is not accurate. A lot of times the impression that is given to you is driven by the coverage that is provided,” Kline said at a recent political forum.

Kline says most of his time is spent working on complex civil litigation, putting criminals in prison and getting legislation passed to improve public safety.

As an example of his law enforcement role, Kline typically cites his work in assisting the prosecution of a man convicted in April of killing a Great Bend couple.

But Morrison dismissed Kline’s work.

“I bet Kline spent very little time in court on that, other than when the cameras were there,” he said.

Protect privacy

Morrison said Kline’s request for the records through a district judge has resulted in zero prosecutions and has angered many Kansans over the rights of privacy, separate from the issue of abortion.

“Our rights of privacy in this country and this state are under assault every day by the criminal element, by technology. We should have an attorney general interested in protecting rights of privacy,” he said.

While Kline doesn’t mention the ongoing legal pursuit of the medical records in his campaign list of accomplishments, he offers a lengthy explanation of the case from his point of view on his campaign Web site at www.phillkline.com. Clicking on “additional information on issues addressed in Attorney General Phill Kline’s 1/15 speech” takes you to www.kansasjudicialinquiry.com.

The Kline Web site states it seeks to provide a “factual explanation” of the case and to correct “some public misconceptions.”

Abortion opponents OK

Those who oppose abortion say they are fine with Kline downplaying his probe into the clinics during the campaign.

They say it doesn’t mean he is softening in his opposition to abortion – he is simply steering away from a case that is difficult to explain and one that he feels has been mischaracterized by the press.

“Anyone who is pro-life and doesn’t know Phill Kline probably hasn’t been paying attention,” said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, the largest anti-abortion group in Kansas.

“He is fighting a misperception about himself,” she said. “In order to get re-elected, I would tout everything I have done so people understand that I’m a good attorney general on all levels,” she said.