so what IS the matter with Kansas?

I'd like to once again reiterate that abortion is not about LIFE, or cute little gerber babies. It is about control: control of women's bodies, control of women's lives. And it is a key component of the conservative plan, because if women cannot for themselves decide when, where and with whom to have children, they are effectively no longer free and equal citizens. It's that simple, and that's why I'm not sympathetic to, nor will I ever be, liberals who adopt the conservative framing on this topic. Liberalism and feminism are almost certainly incompatible (read Locke closely) but, since we seem stuck in it, let's review: property is the cornerstone of liberal democracy. Our first piece of property is our bodies. All rights and all presumptions of equality flow from this first assumption.

That being said, check this out, via the indomitable Kos:

Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican who has made fighting abortion a staple of his two years in the post, is demanding the complete medical files of scores of women and girls who had late-term abortions, saying on Thursday that he needs the information to prosecute criminal cases. Advocates on both sides of the abortion issue said the broad investigation, backed by a judge's subpoena [NYT, how about providing a name here? Who is this scandalous judge?], is the first of its kind in pursuit of criminal charges, although the federal Justice Department has unsuccessfully sought similar records in its defense of a ban on a procedure sometimes used to end pregnancies after the first trimester that doctors call intact dilation and extraction and that critics call partial-birth abortion.

Kansas is one of 31 states that have passed laws to ban or restrict the procedure. But Kansas does not ban it outright, allowing such abortions if women's health is endangered. Mr. Kline's efforts to obtain records from abortion clinics follows his failed attempt last year to require the state's health workers to report any sexual activity of girls younger than 16, the age of legal consent in Kansas.

Health-care providers sued, and a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order. Mr. Kline's new investigation could yield similar records. His effort became public this week when two clinics whose records are being subpoenaed filed a brief in State Supreme Court to block what they called a "secret inquisition" and "fishing expedition" that threatened the doctor-patient privilege and women's constitutional rights.

Noting that personal details like marital status, race, employment history and emergency contacts are in the records, lawyers for the clinics asked, "How can a woman's method of birth control or prior history of abortions or use of drugs and medications be relevant?"

Oh, they're RELEVANT, believe me, because they indicate which women are Godless Heathens who have forsaken their Immortal Soul and should be put into camps or sent to clean toxic waste sites, for the purification of our society so that Jesus isn't angry when he comes back.