TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A spokesman for former state Attorney General Phill Kline called it “unfortunate” that a solicitation that arrived Thursday in thousands of Kansas mailboxes mentioned slain Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported on its Web site that the five-page brochure asked Kline’s supporters for donations to help him eliminate $200,000 in personal legal debt and to fight abortion.
Kline is an ardent opponent of abortion and focused much of his attention on the issue, including an investigation of Tiller, while serving as attorney general from 2003 through 2006.
Kline spokesman Brian Burgess told The Capital-Journal that the brochures were mailed May 27, four days before Tiller was shot and killed while ushering at the Lutheran church he attended in Wichita. A Kansas City, Mo., man, 51-year-old Scott Roeder, has been charged with first-degree murder.
“There was no way to foresee what was going to happen,” Burgess said. “I think it’s fair to say the timing is unfortunate.”
Just months into his term in 2003, Kline began investigating Tiller’s clinic — one of the few nationally to offer late-term abortions — as well as a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. The investigation led to criminal charges against Tiller, alleging he performed illegal abortions.
