Yesterday in Tiller v. Corrigan, (KS Sup. Ct., Nov. 29, 2007), the Kansas Supreme Court lifted its previously-granted temporary stay of grand jury proceedings convened to investigate whether Wichita abortion provider George Tiller violated Kansas law by performing late-term abortions. The grand jury was empaneled, at the behest of a coalition of anti-abortion groups, under an unusual Kansas statute that allows a grand jury to be convened upon petition of just over 2% of a county's voters. (See prior posting.) Tiller sought a writ of mandamus from the state Supreme Court to halt the proceedings, claiming they amount to harassment. Without further explanation, the Supreme Court said that "petitioner has not established entitlement to the relief sought...." In a release posted on its website, Operation Rescue hailed the decision as "a victory for the rule of law, for the people of Kansas, and for the late-term pre-born babies that laws have been enacted to protect."
UPDATE: The Kansas City Star reported on Thursday that because of this decision, no appeal will be filed to challenge empaneling of a similar grand jury in Johnson County to investigate Planned Parenthood's activities there.
