KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline fired another volley in his battle against abortion providers by filing more than 100 criminal charges Wednesday against a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, Kan.
It's a high-profile clash that dates back to Kline's days as Kansas attorney general, when the conservative Republican fought to obtain abortion records from the clinic.
In all, 107 counts -- 23 felonies and 84 misdemeanors -- were filed Wednesday. The charges include 29 misdemeanor counts of providing unlawful late-term abortions.
The charges have activists on both sides of the issue contemplating Kline's motives and the potential impact of the case on the abortion debate, particularly in Kansas.
Kline isn't talking for now. He declined comment Wednesday through his spokesman, Brian Burgess.
But anti-abortion activists and abortion rights supporters had plenty to say about the charges, filed in Johnson County District Court in Olathe, Kan.
"The real story here doesn't have anything to do with how Planned Parenthood conducts its business," said Pamela Sumners, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri in St. Louis. "Everybody knows Planned Parenthood scrupulously adheres to the law. This is obviously just a case of Phill Kline, who was voted out as attorney general, trying to misuse his local prosecutorial discretion to keep grinding this ax that the voters have said they don't want to hear about anymore.
http://www.hdnews.net/Story/k1000_BC_KS_AbortionCharges_5thLd_Writethru_10_18_1024:grr: Kline...what a real POS.