Trial Against Kansas Abortion Provider Dr. George Tiller Set to Begin in March

Feminist Wire Daily Newsbriefs: Tiller Case to Move Forward in Kansas Court:

A motion by Dr George Tiller's lawyers to dismiss the criminal case against him was denied yesterday by Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens. This pre-trial motion sought to dismiss criminal charges against Dr. Tiller of Wichita, Kansas for allegedly violating a state law requiring an "independent" second physician's concurring opinion before performing later term abortions. Tiller is an abortion provider who is one of the few late-term abortion providers in the US that serves women with troubled pregnancies and complicated health problems....Tiller’s trial is scheduled to begin March 16.

Here is background on the case from the Daily Women's Health Policy Report:

A pretrial hearing in the case against Kansas late-term abortion provider George Tiller adjourned "abruptly" last week, with testimony scheduled to resume in January, the AP/Wichita Eagle reports (Hegeman, AP/Wichita Eagle, 11/21). Tiller is accused of violating a 1998 Kansas state law on post-viability abortions that requires a second, independent in-state physician to confirm that a pregnant woman would suffer "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function" without an abortion (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/17). In the pretrial hearing, Tiller's attorneys are seeking dismissal of the charges or suppression of evidence because of alleged "outrageous conduct" by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R), who initiated the investigation of Tiller (AP/Wichita Eagle, 11/21). Kline was succeeded as attorney general by Paul Morrison (D), who later resigned after it was revealed that he was having an affair with a woman who worked in the attorney general's office. The defense also alleges that the woman, Linda Carter, pressured Morrison to pursue the charges against Tiller (AP/Kansas City Star, 11/20).

Meanwhile, the AP is reporting that a formal ethics complaint is expected against former Kansas Attorney General Kline.