Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is right that the state has a legitimate interest in investigating suspected child sexual abuse. But as the Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday, in doing so, Kline must also respect the legitimate privacy interests of patient/doctor relationships.
The ruling involving Kline’s efforts to get medical records from abortion clinics appeared to strike a careful and appropriate balance between these two sometimes-competing public interests. Ironically, the ruling came as Kline was giving testimony in Wichita on a related issue involving mandatory reporting by medical providers of sexual activity by minors, regardless of whether it’s between consenting teens.
What these closely watched cases should help clarify is the extent of medical privacy rights for minors and adults. Today’s ruling sends a message that those privacy concerns cannot be discounted.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- okobserver on Open thread 11/24
- outlander on Open thread 11/24
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/24
- okobserver on Open thread 11/24
- Regular on Huckabee felt costs of campaign
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/24
- donndublin on Open thread 11/24
- okobserver on Open thread 11/24
- Monkeyhawk on Open thread 11/24
- SolDevVB on Open thread 11/24
22 Comments
What I don’t get about our Mr. Kline, is why they heck isn’t he subpoena-ing hospitals and maternity wards to get records of mothers who were under 16 and 9 months old and under at the time of delivery?
Surely. Surely he’s not just doing this to go after legal abortion providers.
He’s way out of line. Sure, if abuse is suspected it HAS to be reported by professionals (like teachers, nurses, doctors, etc.). That’s been the law for a long time. What he’s trying to do is much too invasive.I agree Cookie, he’s not being upfront about his real agenda.
When I watched the news report on this story, one rather small, but telling point jumped out. Apparently, under Kansas law, a boy that performs oral sex on an underage girl is committing a felony, yet if she performs it on him, it’s legal! Then I wondered about the legislators that wrote that law, and about what that said about them, other than their gender. Hmmm……….
The whole thing is so crazy, I can’t believe so much time is being wasted on this. It’s the state’s responsibility to investigate suspected cases of abuse, not to invade people’s homes to determine if their teenager is having sex within certain guidlines. It’s the parents responsibility to monitor and protect their child, and when that fails, maybe the state needs to step in. Let’s let parents do their job, the government is a poor substitute parent.
Taking the gender discrimination issue another step, what would Kline say if the issue were an under-16 girl doing oral sex on another under-16 girl? Kline must have forgotten to take Constitutional Law in law school.
Another issue is what will happen with Justice Beier’s discussion about Kline possibly violating ethics rule 3.6? Kline may not have been guilty of criminal contempt, but he may be subject to disciplinary proceedings because of the press conference he held.
Kelly,I think Kline disapproves of all oral sex. What gets him off is written sex.
He certainly seems fixated on it, huh? It would be real interesting to know more about HIS sex life, I’m willing to bet it’s pretty strange.
Kelly, What’s ethics rule 3.6? Enlighten me, please.
Yes, reading about teenage girls having sex does seem to appeal to Kansas’ AG. You’d think there would be other crimes out there more worthy of prosecution.
Or maybe he just has too much time on his hands since they caught BTK.
Hehe! Like Kline had anything to do with catching BTK. Or for that matter, that the arrogant SOB didn’t hand himself to the WPD on a silver platter.
Ahem. . . no offense, Cookie. Welcome to the blog!
Yeah, welcome Cookie!
no offense taken. and thanks for the welcome! I grew up in Wichita, so I figure I have every right to chime in on these local and state issues.
Hey Cookie,I’ll bet time isn’t the only thing he has on his hands since he’s been keeping track of all those porn tapes and teenage gynecological records! My recommendation would be for the voters to give him a lot more free time to get his solo jollies!
Perhaps he should try to lobby the state legislature for some kind of KY jelly bottle exchange program.
Some places do it with needles for drug users.
So, why not?
Good one, Jed….he might be a happier and more relaxed person for it.
I have the same question as Cookie…have Via Christie and Wesley received subpoenas for all female patients who were 16.9 years of age and under that have given birth? Wasn’t a crime committed at the time they got pregnant? And, I am totally flabbergasted at the lack of public outrage at the subpoenas and absence of questioning about what is Kline’s real agenda.
Jemma,I don’t believe there’s really any question about Kline’s agenda. He doesn’t want abortion available to women, and will do anything to stop it. These subpoenas are just his latest intimidation tactic.If he gets those records, you can bet that they will somehow fall into the hands of extremists who will do their best to make life miserable for these women, including publishing their records on the web, anonymous phone calls and postcards, handbills distributed in their neighborhoods, threatening calls to their employers, etc. That’s the agenda.
I remember we had a pregnant 12 yr old when I worked on an adolescent treatment unit at (what is now) Via Christi. That should have been reported (and probably was). There are times when a pregnancy should be questioned. If Phil Kline is serious about trying to uncover abuse, he needs to apply the investigation equally. It makes no sense to only go after the women who’ve had abortions. His whole approach seems out of line. Doctors and nurses are the ones who are obligated to report suspected abuse, and it needs to stay that way. There is no evidence that medical professionals are not taking responsibility for reporting abuse the way they’re required to.
YIPES! Was Daddy “daddy”?
Damoon,I agree with you, but I think Kline would say that doctors and nurses don’t think some things he thinks are abuse are. I don’t know a doctor that would report a 15 yr old having sex with her boyfriend as abuse. When I was a teacher, I didn’t report when I knew my 14 year old student was sexually active. Of course, maybe we should just make doctors check for hymens and report any one under 16 without one. I mean, we are missing abuse when girls don’t get pregnant from it, too. You can never be too careful.
You’re right, most doctors would not report a teenager having sex to SRS. Nor should they. It’s up to parents to monitor their kids and take the apprpriate steps if a relationship is out of line. Anything else is too invasive and would be nonproductive anyway. Phil Kline is crazy in my opinion.