Wichita ? Abortion opponents turned over a petition Wednesday asking for a Sedgwick County grand jury to investigate late-term abortions by Dr. George Tiller.

The petition contains 7,857 signatures, nearly three times as many as necessary to convene a grand jury. Abortion foes said it took them four weeks to collect the signatures.

In its petition, Kansans for Life asked that the Sedgwick County District convene a grand jury and appoint an independent prosecutor.

“We waited nine years for those in law enforcement to do their jobs,” said David Gittrich, state development director for Kansans for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group.

It’s the second time in less than 18 months that abortion opponents have attempted to force a grand jury to investigate Tiller. Last year, they succeeded in convening one to review the death of a Texas woman who had had an abortion at Tiller’s clinic, but no indictment was returned.

“They have real evidence this time – hard medical evidence,” Gittrich said.

Attorney General Paul Morrison charged Tiller in June with 19 misdemeanors for allegedly failing to get an independent second opinion on some late-term abortions done in 2003. Tiller maintains his innocence, and his attorneys are challenging the constitutionality of the Kansas statute.

A receptionist at the law office of Tiller’s attorney, Lee Thompson, said defense attorneys did not have immediate comment on the petition but may issue a statement later.

Abortion opponents contend Morrison did not go far enough. They want a grand jury to examine late-term abortions the doctor performed during the past five years. They also want the grand jury to look at the reasons cited for the abortions, contending they violate state law.

The late-term abortion law, enacted in 1998, applies after the 21st week of pregnancy, when a fetus can survive outside the womb. It says two doctors must conclude that, if a pregnancy continues, a woman or girl could die or face “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function.” Also, the two doctors cannot be financially or legally affiliated.

Officials have interpreted “major bodily function” to include mental health. But former Attorney General Phill Kline alleged Tiller performed abortions in 2003 because his patients suffered from conditions such as anxiety or “single-episode” depression.

Kansans for Life does not want either the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office or the state attorney general’s office associated with the grand jury investigation. The group contends neither can do an unbiased investigation.

“I can assure you the attorney general will enforce the law regardless of his personal view,” said Ashley Anstaett, spokeswoman for Morrison. “He does not and will not let politics influence this or any other case.”

Georgia Cole, spokeswoman for Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston did not directly respond to the group’s allegation, saying only that the grand jury petition would eventually be submitted to a district court judge.

“We are confident they will do as the law allows,” she said.

The debate over how Tiller should be prosecuted also has spilled into the Legislature, where a committee is studying the late-term abortion law. The panel planned to have hearings today and Friday.

The legislative committee planned to review a DVD of a 45-minute interview with Paul McHugh, the former director of the psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, produced by abortion opponents.

Kline paid McHugh $300 an hour, or more than $5,000, to review patient records, and McHugh concluded none of the medical diagnoses Tiller listed justified late-term abortions. He said he and other psychiatrists don’t think any purely psychiatric reason justifies an abortion.

Abortion opponents have accused Morrison of ignoring a written McHugh statement provided to Kline.

But Anstaett said McHugh still could be called to testify, even though Morrison’s allegations are different from Kline’s.