The Fascist Eye

By which I mean, the eye into every woman's bedroom and life, as demanded by Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline -- he wants the complete medical files of all women who've had late-term abortions, so that he can track down possible criminal cases that need prosecuting.

Mr. Kline emphasized statutory rape at a news conference here but also spoke obliquely of other crimes that court documents suggest could include doctors' providing illegal late-term abortions and health professionals' failing to heed a state law that requires the reporting of suspected child sexual abuse.

Heck, why doesn't he just demand access to all medical records in the state, so that he's aware of every possible abuse, gunshot, or other crime that needs a bloodhound? Confidentiality, anyone? Oh, do you think this could be related to his anti-abortion pogrom? hmmm...

[M]any here on both sides of the abortion debate said they suspected that his real target was doctors who provide late-term abortions.

Bingo. And there's even some political payback blended in:

Kansas has become a national magnet for late-term abortions because of a doctor in Wichita who performs hundreds of them each year. The doctor, George Tiller, funneled at least $150,000 through political action committees to Mr. Kline's opponent in the attorney general's race in 2002, and his clinic, Women's Health Care Services, is one of the two whose records are being subpoenaed.

This whole idea is unacceptable on many levels, but enhancing your job security at the expense of your citizens' privacy is a really stomach-turning spectacle.

Update: Atrios weighs in with some additional good points about the hypocrisy in this story. If the subpoenas were all about catching statutory rape crimes, then the net should widen to maternity wards and STD clinics (where any underage boy showing up would be an automatic crime victim). Yeah, right. Your privacy is of course sacrosanct unless you are making a decision of which Mr. Kline disapproves.