Antiabortion activists in Kansas are stepping up a campaign to drive one of the nation's last late-term abortion providers out of business.
Dr. George Tiller, who draws patients from across the country to his Wichita clinic, faces trial next month on 19 misdemeanor counts. The charges -- which he vigorously disputes -- accuse him of aborting viable fetuses without first consulting an independent physician as required by state law.
Each count carries a penalty of up to a year in jail. If convicted, Tiller could also lose his medical license.
His opponents aren't waiting for the outcome of the trial.
This month, the antiabortion group Kansans for Life submitted nearly 8,000 signatures to Sedgwick County District Court in Wichita, calling for a grand jury to review Tiller's handling of late-second- and third-trimester abortions. Tiller's lawyers appealed to federal court to block the grand jury, calling it a "vigilante effort," but were rebuffed last week. State law allows citizens to force the seating of a grand jury.
At the Capitol, meanwhile, a committee controlled by antiabortion lawmakers held a two-day hearing this month to lay the groundwork for tougher restrictions on abortion. Among the witnesses: a woman who said Tiller rushed her into an abortion at the end of her second trimester without counseling, informed consent or a second opinion because she had arrived late for her appointment at the clinic. State officials said they might investigate those claims.
"This is the beginning of the end for Tiller," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, a Wichita-based antiabortion group.
Kansas law requires any physician who performs an abortion at or after 22 weeks' gestation to first determine whether the fetus is viable, meaning it could survive outside the womb. Aborting a viable fetus is permitted only if two doctors certify that continuing the pregnancy could kill the woman or cause her "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function." Tiller has reported aborting more than 2,600 viable fetuses since the law took effect in 1998.
His attorneys and supporters say Tiller has done nothing wrong. And some of his patients, expressing deep gratitude for his work, have shared their stories.
At AHeartbreakingChoice .com, several women explain why they traveled to Wichita to abort much-wanted pregnancies, long after they had decorated nurseries and chosen baby names.
