Topeka ? Phill Kline didn’t abandon attempts to prosecute Wichita abortion provider Dr. George Tiller after leaving the attorney general’s office, recently unsealed court records show.

Kline transferred copies of edited patient records he’d received from Tiller’s clinic as attorney general to the Johnson County district attorney’s office, three days before leaving the state job and taking over the county office in January 2007.

He had possession of the copies for three months before a Shawnee County district judge told him to give them up. But, according to a transcript, the same judge said during a hearing that Kline saw a link between Tiller’s activities and a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park – and possible wrongdoing.

Kline, a district attorney, has filed 107 charges against the Planned Parenthood clinic, accusing it of performing illegal abortions and falsifying documents. Planned Parenthood contends the charges are unfounded and is pursuing a lawsuit against Kline before the Kansas Supreme Court.

Planned Parenthood’s case was sealed at its request and remained closed for 11 months, until last week, when the high court unsealed it and made hundreds of pages of documents public. Some discussed Kline’s handling of records from Tiller’s clinic and efforts to investigate the Sedgwick County doctor from Johnson County.

Kline declined to discuss his interest in Tiller’s activities after leaving the attorney general’s office. Abortion rights advocates believe his interest was driven by his opposition to abortion and a desire to close both clinics.

“I categorically deny that there’s any connection whatsoever, any impropriety,” said Lee Thompson, a Wichita attorney who represents Tiller. “It is a bogus, politically motivated product of a misogynistic politician.”

Kline began investigating both clinics in 2003, when he was attorney general. Kline eventually obtained edited copies of records from the files of 60 Tiller patients and 29 Planned Parenthood patients.