We may never know for sure. But years’ worth of effort and sacrifice by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline may well have saved dozens, hundreds, of preborn children from slaughter.

America’s most notorious abortionist, George Tiller, has not been performing late-term abortions at his Wichita killing mill for almost a month. Tiller’s propaganda minister, Julie Burkhart, says the closure has nothing to do with the criminal charges Tiller faces for violating state law. Her claim in a LifeNews.Com story (08.21.07) is that Tiller’s operation was attacked by vandals on July 4th.

But in an extraordinary article also published on the LifeNews site, Phill Kline himself argues that it is the criminal charges he instigated which provide the real explanation:

“So why is Tiller closed?” asks Mr. Kline. “He can’t find another [doctor like] Neuhaus [to serve as a rubber stamp for his abortion certifications].”

Under Kansas Law, no abortions can be performed on late-term babies unless the mother’s life is threatened, or she is likely to suffer a serious, permanent health injury. Tiller has demonstrated no compunction about misusing his medical license to define nearly any emotional condition or life situation as grounds for killing babies brought to him from every state in the Union.

For example, Kline cites one case he reviewed in which a fully-formed baby was killed by Tiller and his mother because she would no longer be able to attend rock concerts. In justifying his actions to the state Department of Health, Tiller wrote that the killing was justified because the woman would suffer “an adjustment disorder” resulting in permanent emotional injury.

But Kansas Law requires that a second doctor concur with these specious judgments. And that is where Tiller has gotten into trouble. It seems he solved that problem by finding a “doctor” who would sign whatever Tiller placed in front of her. She was so reliable, in fact, that Tiller put her on staff as his official “corroborator”.

Tiller has just reopened his clinic, with apparently slower numbers.

We can celebrate the reprieve, however short. Some of those children scheduled for execution, we can reasonably hope, have now been born as a result of the tumult in Tiller’s operation over the past month.

We give thanks to our Lord and to Mr. Kline for his heroic efforts on behalf of the innocent.

Labels: late-term abortions, Phill Kline, Tiller