Lawyers for Wichita abortion provider George Tiller say they’ve turned in nearly two years worth of patient records subpoenaed by a grand jury.
Laura Shaneyfelt, who represents Tiller, said patient files for 2004 and most of 2005 have already been turned over and the rest are expected to be complete by week’s end. The grand jury had ordered five years’ worth of files by women who sought late-term abortions at Tiller’s clinic.
“The process is necessarily time consuming to insure complete protection of his patients’ privacy,” Shaneyfelt said.
But it will take more time before the grand jury gets to see all the files. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in May that after Tiller’s lawyers strike all identifying information from the patient records, an independent doctor and lawyer appointed by the court must also review the records and take out information irrelevant to the grand jury’s investigation. The grand jury is looking into whether Tiller complied with Kansas law’s regarding late-term abortions. Its term expires July 8.
