Jul 2, 2007 / 07:31 am
A well-known abortionist was charged Thursday with violating Kansas law on late-term abortion procedures.
Attorney General Paul Morrison filed 19 misdemeanor counts, alleging that Dr. George Tiller got second opinions from a doctor who was not financially and legally independent from him, as the law requires.
At a news conference Thursday, Morrison described the allegations as a "technical violation" of a 1998 law restricting late-term procedures.
The abortions in question involved cases in which patients were more than 21 weeks pregnant and the fetuses were able to survive outside the womb. Under such circumstances, Kansas law requires two independent doctors to conclude that if the pregnancy continues, the mother-to-be will face death or "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," which has been interpreted to include mental health.