Three AGs complicates abortion discussion
TOPEKA (AP) -- Any discussion of the legal disputes involving abortion providers in Kansas is complicated by the fact that Kansas has had three attorneys general in less than three years.
Phill Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, was elected in 2002 and ran for re-election four years later.
In 2006, his challenger was Paul Morrison, the Johnson County district attorney and an abortion rights Democrat. Morrison had won the county office as a Republican but switched parties for the attorney general's race.
Morrison won handily after an often bitter campaign.
His victory created a vacancy in the Johnson County office. Because Morrison had been a Republican, about 650 local GOP activists had the power under Kansas law to fill the vacancy.
And in December 2006, they chose Kline.
The two men switched jobs on Jan. 8, 2007. Morrison became attorney general, while Kline became Johnson County district attorney.
But 11 months later, Morrison acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a woman who had worked for him in the DA's office. She filed a federal harassment complaint and has accused him, among other things, of trying to get her to provide inside information about Kline's activities in investigating abortion providers.
He denied any professional misconduct but resigned Jan. 31.
The Kansas Constitution says the governor fills such a vacancy in the attorney general's office. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, also an abortion rights Democrat, appointed Steve Six, then a Douglas County district judge.
