Thursday October 1, 1998
State/World
9A
Abortion procedure investigated
State board finds Wichita doctor's methods lawful
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The state board that licenses and regulates physicians has finished its investigation of physician George Tiller and plans no disciplinary action against him because of the abortions he performs.
The Board of Healing Arts disclosed its decision in a letter to Gov. Bill Graves. Graves asked the board to investigate whether Tiller had violated a state law restricting the use of a late-term procedure known as a partial-birth abortion
under Kansas law.
A new state law bans the procedure unless it is necessary to save a woman's life or unless she faces a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major physical or mental function. Under the procedure, a doctor begins a delivery, removes the contents of the skull and crushes the head.
Shortly after the law took effect July 1, Tiller, who operates the Women's Health Care Services Clinic in Wichita, said he was performing partial-birth abortions. However, he said his procedure was different in that he euthanized the fetuses first, and he said he compiled fully with the law.
"We promised to cooperate with the investigation and did so," Tiller said in a statement. "I am pleased with the result, which was
expected.
The letter to Graves dated vester
expected."
The letter to C day, was from Stacy Cook, the board's litigation counsel. In it, Cook said a disciplinary panel recommended that no action be initiated against Tiller.
"Based upon the panel's recommendation, we consider the matter closed." Cooke
Graves: Asked medical panel to investigate doctor.
closed," Cook said in the letter. Larry Buening, the board's executive director, said the panel found no grounds to initiate a disciplinary action. He declined to comment about the details of the case, noting that Kansas law orders the board to keep investigatory material confidential until it files a complaint.
Graves is not disappointed with the result of the board's investigation, said representative Mike Matson.
"He had no preconceived notions," Matson said. "This is the way the system is designed to work, and it worked the way it was supposed to."
Dave Gittrich, executive director of Kansans for Life, was critical of the board's work and said he was not surprised by the decision.
He said the board focused its investigation too narrowly, only on whether Tiller had performed a certain procedure in violation of Kansas law.
Israeli peace efforts undercut by attacks
The Associated Press
HEBRON, West Bank — Undercutting the latest U.S. peace efforts, an assailant yesterday hurled two grenades at Israeli troops guarding a downtown square in the volatile West Bank city of Hebron, injuring 11 soldiers and 11 Palestinians.
The attacker was shot in the leg before he vanished into the Palestinian-controlled area of the city. The Israeli army poured reinforcements into Hebron and imposed a curfew on the area it controls.
Coming at a time when the United States is trying to conclude an agreement on an Israeli troop withdrawal in the West Bank, the attack gave a boost to Israeli claims that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to prevent attacks on Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would not give the Palestinians more West Bank land until the they reined in militants.
Troops also set up roadblocks around Hebron, barring Palestinians from leaving or entering the city of 130,000 Palestinians and 450 Jewish settlers.
Tensions in Hebron have been rising since the Aug. 20 killing of a rabbi, apparently by a Palestinian militant.
In a related development, Israel TV's Channel Two said that Palestinian security forces raided a Hamas bomb factory in Hebron on Tuesday, seizing 640 pounds of explosives and bomb-making materials. The report said it was the largest Hamas laboratory uncovered.
Yesterday's violence erupted during Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, as Israeli troops enforced a blanket closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The bloodshed came amid intensive U. efforts to broker an agreement on an Israeli troop pullback from 13 percent of the West Bank. Under a compromise, 3 percent of that land is to be set aside as a nature reserve in which Israel retains control over security.
Earlier this week, President Clinton met with Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat separately and then in a three-way summit. Israeli and U.S. officials were upbeat, saying the land issue had been resolved.
Palestinian negotiators said yesterday that some differences remained. Hassan Abdel Rahman, the Palestinian representative in Washington, said one point of contention was whether Palestinian police could enter the nature reserve.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and U.S. envoy Dennis Ross are to return to the region Tuesday to prepare another Mideast summit in Washington in mid-October. Palestinian negotiators said.
The grenade blast injured five soldiers and six officers from the paramilitary border police, as well as 11 Palestinians, the army and Palestinian doctors said. One Israeli was seriously wounded.
In other developments yesterday,
some 400 Palestinians threw stones
at Israeli soldiers near the West
Bank village of Biddou. Troops fired
Kristi Elliott / KANSAN
rubber bullets, injuring six Palestinians.
The clashes erupted after the funeral of a Hamas activist, Zahran Ibrahim Zahran, who was killed Tuesday when a car rigged with powerful explosives blew up in the village of Beitunia, near Ramallah.
A caller to a Palestinian media center, saying he spoke for Hamas, claimed Israel was behind the bombing. However, Hamas representative Mahmoud Zahar, said the group was still investigating the incident.
NATO finishes plan to strike Serb forces
The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — Backed by the United States, Britain yesterday called an emergency meeting of the Security Council to denounce the latest massacre of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. NATO proceeded with final preparations for air strikes against Serb forces.
"This was not an act of war; it was plain cold murder," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said at a news conference at the Labor Party's annual conference in Blackpool, England.
He said the meeting would request an urgent report on Kosovo from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Britain takes control of the Security Council presidency today, which gives it the authority to put matters on the acenda.
Informal consultations on Kosovo were scheduled for this afternoon.
Cook warned that NATO air strikes could follow Annan's report, which is a regular 30-day update that was expected late this week or early next week.
Cook also called for a meeting in London tomorrow of the six countries represented in the so-called Contact Group on Yugoslavia: the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia. He said the meeting was for the purpose of finding a way forward on a political settlement for Kosovo.
In Washington, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Cook by telephone that she agreed with the convening of a council meeting to discuss the atrocities in Kosovo, State Department representative James Foley said.
Annan is evaluating whether Serbia has complied with last week's Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in
Kosovo, a withdrawal of Serbian troops and the start of serious dialogue on real autonomy for the province.
In a possible precursor, Annan issued a statement yesterday condemning the slaughter of 18 men, women and children in the Serbian province on Sunday. Annan added that the reported massacre was particularly shocking since the Yugoslav foreign minister had as recently as
Tues day denied Serb involvement in any atrocities.
The bodies were seen Tuesday by diplomats and journalists in a forest in the Drenica region of Kosovo, where the
Nbright: Wants meeting to discuss Kosovo atrocities.
ethnic Albanian majority is lighting for independence.
The West supports autonomy for Kosovo but not independence
for Kosovo but not independence. At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the alliance proceeded yesterday with preparations for air strikes against Serb forces in Kosovo. The preparations almost are complete, NATO officials said.
Russia and China are opposed to any use of force in Kosovo. China abstained from last week's resolution, claiming that the fighting in Kosovo didn't constitute a threat to international peace and security.
Foley reaffirmed the U.S. view that no council action would be required for NATO to take military action, but that any council statement in support of NATO's determination to act would be welcome.
The Kansan Classified get results --- fast
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCHOOL OF LAW
Presents a
PRELAW PROGRAM Tuesday, October 6, 1998
Green Hall, Room 104 7:00 PM
To help you plan a career in the legal profession, law school professors and students will be available to discuss with you your law plans and answer questions
Prelaw Education Admissions Process Financial Aid
Law School Curriculum Joint Degree Programs Law Placement
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