From N.Y. Times.com: WICHITA, Kan. — Opponents of Dr. George Tiller and his clinic here,one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions, have triedmany ways to stop him over three decades. They have held protests,lobbied lawmakers and complained persistently to state regulators andprosecutors. There have also been several acts of violence, includingone in which Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms.
Now hisopponents are using a legal tactic that some find startling and othersconsider inspired. They have turned to an unusual state statute,adopted in 1887, that allows ordinary citizens who gather enoughsignatures on a petition to demand that a grand jury investigate analleged crime, a decision usually left to a prosecutor.
Insidea courthouse along Main Street here, 15 grand jurors have been meetingfor months, convened under the statute by ordinary Sedgwick Countyresidents to investigate whether Dr. Tiller’s clinic has illegallyperformed second- and third-trimester abortions. Their deliberationsare scheduled to end next month.