Wichita ? A group and an activist opposed to abortion are trying to join a Kansas Supreme Court case over whether a grand jury should be convened to investigate a Wichita abortion provider.

The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue and activist Mark Gietzen filed a request this week to intervene in Dr. George Tiller’s appeal seeking to stop a grand jury that would investigate him. The grand jury, which would convene in Sedgwick County District Court, would look into whether Tiller performed illegal late-term abortions and whether he kept records that complied with state law.

Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said his group feels it should have a role in the case because Tiller’s filings with the court are disparaging to the organization.

Tiller’s attorneys have filed a motion to try to keep Operation Rescue and Gietzen from joining the case.

“The justices of the Supreme Court do not need to hear the tired anti-choice rhetoric of these groups in order to decide these important legal issues,” Tiller’s lawyer, Dan Monnat, said.

Operation Rescue and Gietzen were part of a drive that collected enough signatures to force a grand jury investigation. State law allows citizens to pursue such an investigation by petition.

Tiller argues that he has been cleared in previous state investigations, and that the petition drive represented harassment by anti-abortion groups wanting to further their political agenda.

Paul Buchanan, a retired Sedgwick County chief judge assigned to supervise the grand jury, ruled last month that the grand jury process would move forward. But the Supreme Court stayed the proceeding while it considers Tiller’s appeal.

Gietzen said he thinks the Supreme Court judges have a personal bias in favor of abortion and are trying to protect Tiller.