Wichita ? Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers after calling as their lone witness the consulting physician who provided the second opinion required by Kansas law for the procedure.

Lawyers for Dr. George Tiller were to begin presenting their evidence today. They will try to show that Tiller had no improper financial or legal connections with Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus, from whom he regularly sought second opinions on late-term abortions as required by Kansas law.

The defense moved for an acquittal immediately after the state rested Tuesday, arguing the prosecution failed to present enough evidence to support a guilty verdict.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens rejected the motion, finding there was adequate evidence of financial ties between Tiller and Neuhaus to send the question to the jury. Owens questioned the adequacy of evidence of a legal affiliation between the doctors, but said he would address that matter in jury instructions.

Tiller went on trial Monday on 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003. He is accused of breaking a state law requiring that an independent Kansas physician sign off on any late-term abortion.

Prosecutors described Neuhaus as essentially a Tiller employee whose only income at the time came from patients she saw at Tiller’s clinic. The defense argued she only came to his clinic for the convenience and safety of patients, pointing out she paid for her own expenses, such as malpractice insurance and travel costs.

Tiller’s patients paid Neuhaus a cash consultation fee of $250 to $300.

Kansas law allows abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb only if two independent doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women’s life or prevent “substantial and irreversible” harm to “a major bodily function,” a phrase that’s been interpreted to include mental health.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Dan Monnat, Neuhaus said she sometimes declined to concur with a late-term abortion. She testified she was not aware of any abortion that Tiller performed after she refused to consent to it, but added she would have no way of knowing.