What’s the matter with Kansas’ attorney general?

If there’s a more blatant example of government abuse of women’s privacy rights than this, I can’t think of it.

The Kansas attorney general, as part of a criminal investigation into child rape and late-term abortions, is demanding that two health centers hand over the medical records of about 90 female patients, including minors.

The investigation was disclosed in a filing to the Kansas Supreme Court by two unidentified clinics, which had been ordered by a district court judge to disclose the patients’ names, as well as their medical histories, birth control, sexual practices and other personal details.

This is lunacy. It’s the worst kind of prosecutorial fishing expedition possible — the state doesn’t have tangible evidence of a crime, but it wants access to private medical files of women who’ve done nothing wrong, because the attorney general would like to check, just in case. In turn, the most personal details of women’s lives — method of birth control, prior medical history, psychological profiles, etc. — would be open to state review, without a hint of probable cause.

“These records are of the utmost sensitivity,” the [clinics’ legal] brief says. “The logical and natural progression of this action could well be a knock on the door of a woman who exercised her constitutional right to privacy by special agents of the attorney general who seek to inquire into her personal medical, sexual or legal history.”

The era of really big government is making a scary comeback.