Abortion doctor's slaying forces visiting Liberty professor back into spotlight

Before launching into the day’s lesson, Phillip Kline — a visiting professor at Liberty University’s law school — paced in front of his Evidence class, quoting Luke 19:38 from the first slide of his PowerPoint presentation.

“Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest ...”

Kline called upon his students to use their Christian faith to guide them to a higher truth, God’s truth, in their journey as lawyers. Then, head bowed, he led them in prayer.

For Kline, the former Kansas Attorney General, the classroom is a haven from a career that thrust him into the national spotlight for his investigations of the late Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas-based doctor who specialized in late-term abortions.

“Political discourse, it’s all attack, it’s all trivial, it’s all tangential to what’s really happening,” he said.

“I love the honesty of a classroom.”

Earlier this month, Kline was subpoenaed to testify by defense attorneys in the trial of Scott Roeder, the anti-abortion activist accused of murdering Tiller last May. The trial began last week, and Kline said Wednesday his court date was still up in the air.

The case sparked national controversy following the judge’s decision to allow Roeder to build his defense around the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter on the grounds that he sincerely believed killing Tiller would save unborn children.

Kline condemns the murder but said he would not provide additional comment until after his testimony.

“My faith teaches me that we’re not to take a life from another, we’re to lay down a life for another. There’s a profound difference.”

Kline made headlines once again when an ethics complaint was released last week that accused him of making false statements and allowing subordinates to mislead other officials while investigating abortion providers, according to the Associated Press.

A public hearing is set for May, and the Kansas Supreme Court will make the final decision on any sanctions, such as censure or the loss of his law license.

The complaint will not affect Kline’s status at Liberty, said LU School of Law Dean Mat Staver.

“I think at the end of the day he’ll be validated, along with the other prosecutors in his office,” said Staver during a phone interview on Friday. “I think Kansas has engaged in a political witch hunt to try to intimidate prosecutors in the future not to investigate the abortion practices occurring within that state.”

Kline would not comment on the ethics complaint, and instead cited a statement from his Cincinnati attorney, Tom Condit: “This complaint was fully anticipated, it is deceptively structured and it is entirely politically motivated.”

Kline said it’s frustrating to be pigeonholed for a champion of the anti-abortion cause — a role that has inspired death threats and hate mail that persists today. But he understands why his abortion-related work overshadows other aspects of his career.

“The criminal prosecution for illegal abortions had never really occurred,” Kline said. “Tiller’s prominence and Planned Parenthood’s prominence, that’s what made this a national story.”

Born and raised in Kansas, Kline’s Christian faith has guided him as a lawyer, public official and now a teacher. He said it’s a “fallacy” that people engaged in law or public policy should leave faith at the door.

“I think faith is vitally important in the search for justice and truth,” Kline said. “Law is hopefully an expression of that truth.”

His career path has wound through the arenas of journalism, public relations, law, politics and academia.

With undergraduate degrees in political science and public relations from Central Missouri State, Kline worked for a short time as a broadcast journalist and public relations agent for a theme park before enrolling in law school at the University of Kansas. After graduation, he signed on with a Kansas-based law firm where he specialized in large commercial contracts.

In 1994, he started a private practice. On the side, he co-hosted a radio talk show on KMBZ in Kansas city and launched a radio series with his wife Deborah called The Kansas File, which chronicled the history, culture, people and places of the Sunflower state.

Kline ran for Attorney General in 2002, and served from 2003 through 2007, when he was ousted by Paul Morrison. For the next two years, he served as Johnson County District Attorney.

Last January, he accepted a job as a visiting professor at Liberty University School of Law, and moved to Amherst County with his wife and 17-year-old daughter. Kline will be up for a tenure-track position later this spring, Staver said.

“We’re excited that Phill Kline is at Liberty. He brings a great deal of experience and a lot of energy to the classroom,” Staver said.

Kline said he’s a good fit at Liberty, a school that prides itself on keeping faith in the classroom.

Though he aligns with LU’s Christian values, he encourages debate in the classroom and believes in the battle of ideas.

“I don’t feel any sense here that I can’t challenge thinking,” he said.

To Kline, who said his anti-abortion stance stems from logic not religion, abortion is a step backward in the fight for human rights. He has no regrets in investigating Tiller and Planned Parenthood.

“There’s an inherent tragedy in a pregnancy that is unwanted,” he said, adding it is not a justification for abortion.

“It’s a tough issue. What’s disappointing is how cheaply we address it. It’s all name calling and screaming.”

His time in Kansas has left him jaded about politics and the institutions of law. In the classroom, his passion for law is still palpable.

“One of the great joys of this, if I can get some of this Kansas thing past me, is you have an opportunity to really wrestle with ideas,” he said. “Political office moves too fast for that sometimes.”