| TOPEKA, Kan. - A Planned Parenthood clinic in suburban Kansas City will turn over a limited number of patient records to a grand jury investigating abortions there, a clinic attorney said Friday. SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS A grand jury issued a subpoena to the Comprehensive Health in Overland Park clinic last month demanding the records of 16 patients. The clinic has been battling Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline, an anti-abortion crusader, over whether the subpoena should be enforced. After a hearing over the dispute Friday in Johnson County District Court, an attorney for the clinic, Pedro Irigonegaray, said it would turn over records for 16 patients that pertain to two restrictions on abortions under Kansas law. He said it would resolve the dispute. One restriction mandates that the clinic notify a parent or guardian when a minor seeks an abortion. Another imposes a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion and requires the clinic to provide information to a patient about the procedure and other medical issues. "We want to turn over the information", said Peter Brownlie, chief executive officer for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. "We just want assurances over how those records will be handled, who will see them and who will have copies of them." Irigonegaray said the clinic's attorneys and the court-appointed attorneys for the grand jury reached an agreement in principle whereby the records the clinic turns over will be edited so that any information that could identify a patient will be removed. Also, the records will remain with the grand jury. While Kline and his staff can review the documents, Irigonegaray said, they'll have to examine them in the grand jury room with the jurors present. Kline's office won't be allowed to make copies, he said. Kline said his office would review the records to determine if Planned Parenthood had complied with the subpoena. The clinic faces 107 criminal charges filed by Kline, including 23 felonies alleging that the clinic falsified records it submitted on its activities to the state. Kline also alleges the clinic performed illegal late-term abortions. The clinic denies wrongdoing. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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