Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue, info@operationrescue.org
WICHITA, Kans., Sept. 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- Petitions were submitted in Sedgwick County, Kansas demanding that a grand jury convene to investigate illegal late-term abortions that may have occurred at George Tiller's Women's Health Care Services since 2003.
Tiller is currently facing 19 charges of having committed late-abortions without the second opinion of a physician that is not financially affiliated with him. However, more serious charges of having committed illegal late-abortions for reasons other than allowed by law were dismissed at the request of District Attorney Nola Foulston last December.
The petition specifically asks that Foulston and Attorney General Paul Morrison, a beneficiary of an estimated $1 million Tiller's campaign help, not be involved in the requested grand jury investigation.
Kansas law allows for citizens to call for grand jury investigations by obtaining a number of qualified signatures of registered voters. Yesterday, the group Kansans for Life submitted 7,857 signatures, three times the required number.
The grand jury petition drive was supported by Operation Rescue, which helped convene a grand jury last year to investigate possible criminal acts by Tiller in the third-trimester abortion death of Christin Gilbert. Operation Rescue later learned that the grand jury did not have access to witnesses and documents that they required to return indictments. Nevertheless, the grand jury narrowly missed indicting Tiller on four counts by only one vote.
"We were very close with the Gilbert grand jury, but we believe the way the District Attorney's office handled that investigation insured that Tiller would not be indicted. We knew the only way a grand jury would ever be trustworthy would be to prevent interference from the DA's office and from the pro-abortion Attorney General's office. That was the only way we could support another grand jury effort," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "This petition did just that, and we congratulate Kansans for Life for their efforts. Now, if the requests are honored, and an independent prosecutor is appointed, then we are confident that we will be seeing indictments against Tiller this time around."
Newman is scheduled to testify tomorrow before an interim Legislative Committee investigating the non-enforcement of late-term abortions laws in Kansas, and will include evidence that the District Attorney's office and others were aware that Tiller was likely violating the Kansas ban on post-viability abortions, but refused to enforce the law.
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.
