Posted on Thu, Apr. 16, 2009

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Operation Rescue says Sebelius' ties to Tiller greater than stated

BY JOHN HANNA

Associated Press

TOPEKA - An anti-abortion group released a document Wednesday that it said raises new questions about Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' ties to George Tiller, one the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortions.

Operation Rescue opposes Sebelius as federal Health and Human Services secretary and hopes to block her confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Sebelius has a long record of supporting abortion rights, though she has told senators she personally opposes abortion.

Sebelius' spokeswoman described the document as a political "mass mailing" and "really not news."

It's a September 2002 letter signed by Tiller, on the stationery of the ProKanDo political action committee. The PAC formed that year and initially was affiliated with Tiller's clinic in Wichita.

The PAC's former executive director said Wednesday that it was ProKanDo's first fundraising letter. In it, Tiller mentions a $200,000 "personal contribution" to the PAC to defeat Sebelius' Republican opponent in the 2002 governor's race. It doesn't mention Sebelius by name.

Anti-abortion groups are the most vocal opponents to Sebelius' nomination. They have long said she has close ties to Tiller, which she and her aides dispute.

In written answers to senators' questions, Sebelius initially said she received $12,450 from Tiller between 1994 and 2001, while serving as Kansas insurance commissioner.

Earlier this week -- after Operation Rescue complained -- she amended her answers to note an additional $23,000 in contributions in 2000-2002 from Tiller or his clinic to a PAC she formed as insurance commissioner.

"She benefited far more than what she likes to portray," said Troy Newman, Operation Rescue's president. "She's trying to distance herself from George Tiller."

ProKanDo's former executive director, Julie Burkhart, who held the position when it formed in July 2002, said the letter was directed at Sebelius' opponent. She said it reflected an effort "to make sure that practices like Dr. Tiller's will keep their doors open."

Sebelius spokeswoman Beth Martino said: "This appears to be a 7-year-old mass mailing. Old news is really not news."

The 2002 letter was for potential donors to ProKanDo and said the PAC needed to raise $250,000 to help defeat GOP gubernatorial nominee Tim Shallenburger, an abortion opponent.

"In my naivete, I thought my personal contribution of $200,000 to ProKanDo would be more than enough," Tiller wrote.

Finance reports filed by ProKanDo show Tiller contributed $239,000 to the PAC from August through early November. The PAC reported that Tiller's clinic also paid $16,667 toward Burkhart's salary.

But finance reports also show ProKanDo's biggest expense was $218,000 in contributions to Kansans for Democratic Leadership. That PAC, affiliated with the state party, spent most of its funds on an unsuccessful effort to defeat an anti-abortion Republican in the attorney general's race.

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