Kansas Settles 'Kiss and Tell' Teen Sex Reporting Case
The Center for Reproductive Rights and the state of Kansas have agreed to a $475,000 settlement of a lawsuit prompted by a sweeping 2003 attorney general opinion that required health clinics, especially abortion clinics, to report incidents of teen sex.
In 2006, the center won a restraining order in federal court barring enforcement of the opinion by state and local authorities, the Wichita Eagle reports.
The settlement of the so-called “kiss and tell” case covers attorney fees and costs for the center.
At the time Attorney General Phill Kline, who in 2006 lost his bid for re-election, used the opinion to broadly interpret a state law that required health care providers, teachers and counselors to report incidents in which there was reason to believe a child was being sexually abused.
Kline reasoned that teen pregnancy, for those 16 and younger, is evidence of such abuse. And he expanded the notification requirement to any sexual activity.
The clinics sued, arguing that Kline’s interpretation would keep teens from seeking medical help, birth control or treatment for STDs.
After a federal judge’s ruling that health care providers should be granted discretion in what they report, state law was changed to reflect the ruling, the paper reports.
Earlier:
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-AG, Now a Local DA, Charges Abortion Clinic”
