The files would be reviewed by a court-appointed lawyer and a doctor named by Kline before investigators had access to them, Anderson said during a hearing in the case.
Kline's attorneys argued in a March 3 brief to the Kansas Supreme Court that the clinics, in objecting to the release of the files, were denying "critical evidence of a child rape."
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is seeking access to medical records from 80 patients who received late-term abortions last year.
(Nick Krug -- Associatd Press)
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"The only privacy interest that is, in fact, threatened is that of the child rapist, as it should be," the brief said.
Nor should the clinics be given more details about the investigation before producing the files, the state lawyers said. To do so, would be like "arguing that suspects in a criminal investigation should be allowed to oversee the investigation."
"When a 10-, 11- or 12-year-old child is pregnant, under Kansas law that child has been raped, and as the state's chief law enforcement official, it is my obligation to investigate child rape in order to protect Kansas children," Kline told reporters late last month.
Women's Health Care Services has asserted that it complies with all laws, including those requiring notification of child abuse. In a Feb. 24 statement, an attorney for clinic director George Tiller said his client "knows those laws and scrupulously follows them."
"Claims that anyone is trying to avoid or prevent legitimate legal inquiries about adherence to those laws are false," the statement continued.
The clinics say patients' files sought by Kline include such information as birth control practices, medical history, diagnoses of mental illness and histories of illegal drug use. They offered to edit information before delivering files to Anderson, allowing for future court proceedings to determine the necessity of divulging the woman's name and personal history.
Tiller, whose clinic has been picketed by protesters for years, worked to defeat Kline, a former state legislator, in his 2002 campaign for attorney general, a race he won by less than 1 percent of the vote.
Tiller contributed about $150,000 to a political action committee that channeled the money to Kline's opponent.
