The (Still) Secret Sex Lives of Kansas Teenagers

A federal judge in Wichita has rejected Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline's broad interpretation of a state law requiring health care professionals to report sexual abuse of children. According to Kline, who provoked the lawsuit that led to this ruling by demanding teenagers' abortion clinic records, just about any sexual activity involving Kansans under the age of 16, even if it is consensual and does not involve any adults, is a reportable crime (although he made some puzzling exceptions). After U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten said Kline was wrong to argue that clinics were legally required to report even consensual sex, Kline declared victory, saying, "We have defended the constitutionality of the law successfully."