Last week, District Judge Stephen Tatum dismissed 23 felony charges against a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood and 26 misdemeanor charges in a case alleging that the clinic had falsified records and failed to maintain accurate records.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe called for 49 of the 107 charges against the Planned Parenthood Overland Park clinic to be dropped since many of the key documents in the case, which the clinic had filed with the state health department, had been destroyed by the state health department in 2005. An investigation will ensue to determine whether it shredded the documents illegally.
Planned Parenthood released a statement saying,“While additional charges in this case remain, we are pleased the most serious charges have rightfully been dismissed. We are grateful Johnson County taxpayers and Planned Parenthood will no longer waste enormous time and money on these politically-motivated allegations brought by now discredited prosecutor Phill Kline,” the organization said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and abortion opponent, filed the case in 2007 against the Planned Parenthood clinic. The remaining 58 misdemeanor charges allege that the clinic performed abortions illegally and did not comply with a state law banning later term abortions.
Kansas City Star 11/9/11; Associated Press 11/9/11
