TOPEKA ? A defense attorney Thursday questioned the scrutiny a Kansas doctor is receiving from the state over referring young patients for late-term abortions to preserve their mental health, noting that a disciplinary case against her stems an anti-abortion leader’s complaint.

A hearing is scheduled to conclude Friday in the case of Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus, who provided second opinions that the late Dr. George Tiller’s clinic in Wichita needed under Kansas law to perform late-term abortions. The hearing’s presiding officer is expected to decide by early next year to recommend whether the State Board of Healing Arts, which licenses and regulates physicians, should impose sanctions.

A complaint before the board accuses Neuhaus of negligence in conducting mental health exams for 11 patients, ages 10 to 18, who terminated pregnancies from July to November 2003. Neuhaus diagnosed the patients with acute anxiety, acute stress or single episodes of major depression, concluding their conditions met requirements in Kansas law for late-term abortions.

The board’s top litigation attorney filed the complaint in April 2010, but it stems from a complaint lodged with the board in 2006 by Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser for the Wichita-based anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. Sullenger receives notices from the board about the case.

Robert Eye, lead attorney for Neuhaus, said he believes evidence in the case is “solid” in showing that the doctor met standards of care in conducting the exams. Eye said he respects the board’s need to regulate doctors to protect the public and its need to investigate complaints of potential misconduct, but he also suggested Sullenger’s complaint was driven by her views on abortion.

“The fact that this complaint was brought to the board by an anti-choice group and not by any patient Dr. Neuhaus has ever evaluated is pretty significant,” Eye said during an interview. “”Dr. Neuhaus evaluated hundreds of patients for Dr. Tiller, none of whom complained. For many of these patients, their parents or guardians were in the room.”

But Sullenger said abortion patients are reluctant to complain to the board because they don’t want other people to know they’ve terminated their pregnancies and don’t want to relive the experience. Also, she said, patients tend to trust their doctors and don’t study the law before seeking a medical procedure.

“If a doctor says this is OK, they’re going to trust their doctor,” she said. “It’s not a surprise to me that a woman who’s had an abortion is not a complainant in the case. That’s why we’re here.”

The board’s general counsel, Kelli Stevens, declined to comment about the case.