TOPEKA, Kansas, February 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – How do you kill a criminal prosecution and put a stop to journalistic sting operations in one stroke?
For abortion giant Planned Parenthood, the answer may be the trial against Phill Kline, the pioneer fighter against the abortion giant who was the inspiration for undercover investigations that have now made national news.
Phill Kline, a former Kansas attorney general and district attorney for Johnson County, is the only US prosecutor to succeed in filing a criminal case against Planned Parenthood. The Comprehensive Health Planned Parenthood affiliate in Johnson County was charged by Kline with 107 criminal counts, including 23 felonies, related to their failure to report child-rape to state authorities, falsification of documents, and conspiracy to commit illegal late-term abortions.
The criminal case has only now moved forward after remaining dormant over a year, as last week Judge Steven Tatum ordered the opening of briefs filed by both sides in 45 days. If convicted of a felony, the case would further jeopardize the $363 million in federal funding the abortion giant receives each year.
The year 2011 has not been a good year for Planned Parenthood, which has been the subject of multiple stings by pro-life undercover investigators with Live Action. Those stings, in which PP employees were caught telling underage girls how to get around abortion laws, hiding the age of statutory rapists, and telling pimps how to get abortions for the victims of their child-trafficking – have led to enormous national embarrassment.
Live Action president Lila Rose, who began the stings, indicated that Phill Kline was one of the top role models.
In a national webcast last week, Rose praised Kline for his tenacity; she said she learned about him in 2007, and said his example was an “inspiration to me ever since” – sparking an initiative that brought national attention the very problem Kline fought in Kansas.
“What we’ve seen again and again is that they are willing to cover up the abuse of under-age girls, instead of doing what they should be doing, which is to make a report, which is required by law for sexual abuse of minors,” said Rose.
The apparent criminal behavior of Planned Parenthood in Live Action sting videos has drawn the attention of state prosecutors, but especially Congress, where the House of Representatives has voted to defund Planned Parenthood and all its affiliates.
Pro-life advocates in the same webcast explained that the stakes are high in the Phill Kline case: not only could Kline lose his law license if convicted of ethics violations, but it would serve to impeach the criminal case against Planned Parenthood.
“If Phill loses, Planned Parenthood wins, and their corruption and expansion of their abortion empire will go largely unchallenged moving forward,” said Tom Brejcha of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society.
“At the end of the day, the last thing Planned Parenthood wants is to be convicted of their crimes,” said Rose. “They know if they are convicted of their crimes, it sets off a domino effect across the country, because these crimes aren’t happening and weren’t happening just in Kansas – they are happening all over our nation.”
If Kline’s case won a conviction, she said, it would open the door to more convictions by prosecutors across America.
See previous reports by Peter Smith related to the trial:
* 107-count criminal case begins against Planned Parenthood in Kansas
* Phill Kline ethics trial: Day 1 – Live update
* Kansas abortionists failed to report 166 potential cases of child rape: Phill Kline trial day 2
* Phill Kline attorney makes witness sweat in Planned Parenthood ethics complaint case
* DA’s diary snatching brings new twist to Phill Kline ethics trial, potential crime
* Kansas Travesty: 249 child-age abortions over 3 years, just four sex abuse reports: Kline Hearings
* Kansas judge testifies ‘probable cause’ existed to investigate criminal PP activity: Kline Hearings
* Kline did not violate judge’s order in secret Planned Parenthood case: judge’s legal counsel