Grand Jury Investigating Death Of Woman Who Underwent Abortion At Kansas Clinic, Issues No Indictments

A Sedgwick County, Kan., grand jury investigating the death of a woman who died three days after undergoing an abortion at the Women's Health Care Services clinic in Wichita, Kan., has been dismissed without issuing an indictment, county District Attorney Nola Foulston said in a statement issued Monday, the Wichita Eagle reports (Sylvester, Wichita Eagle, 7/31). Christin Gilbert, a 19-year-old Texas resident with Down syndrome who was 28 weeks pregnant, died on Jan. 13, 2005, after undergoing an abortion at the clinic, which is owned by physician George Tiller. The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, which regulates physicians, in December 2005 cleared Tiller and his staff of misconduct in Gilbert's death. However, Kansas law allows a grand jury to be formed within 60 days of a petition filed with a state district court if the petition has at least 100 more signatures than 2% of the number of people in the county who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election. Sedgwick County Election Office officials in April delivered a certified petition to Richard Ballinger, chief judge of Kansas's 18th judicial district, to convene a grand jury in Gilbert's case. The petition alleges the clinic committed violations, including involuntary manslaughter, mistreatment of a dependent adult, failure to report abuse of children and violation of abortion-related statutes (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/5). The grand jury in May began hearing testimony in the case. The antiabortion group Operation Rescue, which gathered signatures for the petition, in a statement expressed discontent with the grand jury's investigation (Wichita Eagle, 7/31).

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