Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue
OLATHE, Kansas, Nov. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- Planned Parenthood was denied their motion today to dump a grand jury that was scheduled to begin an investigation of them on December 3. Johnson County District Court Judge Kevin P. Moriarty then granted Planned Parenthood's request to delay the seating of the grand jury until December 10 in order to give them time to file a mandamus action with the Supreme Court that will ask them to stop the grand jury.
"This is simply a ploy by a pro-abortion judge to give Planned Parenthood time to cause further delays to the legal process," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Moriarty knew he could not directly violate the law that mandates convening of this grand jury, so he chose to circumvent it by giving Planned Parenthood time to file with the Kansas Supreme Court where further delays can be expected. It has been said that justice delayed is justice denied. We just saw an example of that today."
Judge Moriarty was appointed to the bench in 2004 by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a radical supporter of abortion who has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from abortionists and pro-abortion groups. Moriarty is the former law partner of Democratic U.S. Representative Dennis Moore, also a staunch abortion supporter.
The L.I.F.E. Coalition, whose members include Operation Rescue, Concerned Women For America, and Women Influencing the Nation, led the citizen petition effort to convene a grand jury to investigate Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri for suspected concealment of child sex abuse, illegal late-term abortions, illegal trafficking in fetal tissue, ignoring Kansas laws mandating a 24-hour waiting period and parental consent, and other violations. The group gathered nearly twice the number of signature required.
Another grand jury citizen petition submitted in Sedgwick County demanding a grand jury investigation of late-term abortionist George Tiller has also been delayed indefinitely in a quagmire of legal maneuverings before the Kansas Supreme Court. Operation Rescue filed last week to intervene in that proceeding.
Kansas Statute 22-3001(2) states in part, "A grand jury shall be summoned in any county within 60 days after a petition praying therefore is presented to the district court."
"It has become irrational for Kansas courts to insist that citizens must follow the law when they do not," said Newman.
About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
