Topeka ? Kansas legislators who oppose abortion say a state panel should drop a professional ethics case against former Attorney General Phill Kline.

Several dozen of them from both the House and Senate say an ethics complaint against Kline over his past investigations of abortion clinics is unwarranted.

But House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat and abortion rights supporter, says legislators shouldn’t interfere.

Kline was attorney general from 2003 to 2007 and Johnson County district attorney from 2007 to 2009. The complaint accuses him and subordinates of mishandling abortion patients’ medical records and misleading other state officials.

Kline strongly disputes the allegations. One round of hearings before a three-member panel of a state disciplinary board ended earlier this month, but another round is set for July.