(CNSNews.com) - Some of the records related to an abortion battle raging in Kansas have been made public for the first time, revealing what Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline claims are falsified patient information and evidence of illegal late- term abortions.

The documents (with all identifying patient information blacked out) were submitted by Kline to the Kansas Supreme Court on May 28 in response to a civil lawsuit that Planned Parenthood's Kansas chapter and the state attorney general brought against him seeking the return of those and other abortion records in his custody.

Kline -- serving as Kansas attorney general in 2003 -- began investigating the Kansas chapter of Planned Parenthood at that time for suspected improper record-keeping and allegedly providing patients with illegal late-term abortions.

Finally in 2006, as part of the criminal investigation launched in 2003, Kline obtained the abortion records of 29 Planned Parenthood patients.

In the civil suit, Planned Parenthood and the state of Kansas claim Kline did not have the right to take the records with him after he left the attorney general's office in 2007 and took the district attorney post in Johnson County.

"This case presents a simple question: When a public official leaves office, may he take with him property that belongs to that office?" says the brief that current Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six and Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood (CHPP) filed with the Kansas Supreme Court on May 29.

The civil suit says Kline therefore should "immediately deliver the medical records belonging to CHPP to the Office of the Attorney General."

In October 2007, Kline -- as district attorney of Johnson County and with court approval -- transferred the Planned Parenthood abortion records he'd subpoenaed as attorney general to his county office. He then filed 107 criminal charges against CHPP, including 23 felony counts for improper record-keeping.

Kline's attorneys filed their own brief on May 28, claiming that the records are vital to his ongoing criminal investigation of the abortion provider, and their brief included one of the records in question.

"Attached to the brief filed today is one heavily redacted (blacked out) example of the alleged false writing," Caleb Stegall, lead defense attorney for Kline, wrote in the brief. "Planned Parenthood is required by law to maintain copies of the reports of termination filed with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment."

Click to see full quoteStegall alleges in the brief that two of the abortion records are not exact copies of what Planned Parenthood has in its files, including different hand-writing samples. The records also show that the abortion was performed at 23 weeks, which is illegal in Kansas if proper cause is not documented. (See documents.)

In earlier court filings and hearings, Planned Parenthood has claimed release of its records violated patient confidentiality.

The court will hear oral arguments in the civil suit on June 12.

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