When the rabid right had their guy, Phil Kline, as attorney general of Kansas they dreamt big. The vestiges of that dream were laid to rest today as the ninth circuit court of appeals dismissed the government's appeals in Aid for Women v. Foulston.

When Kline took office in 2003, the right's whole agenda was mapped out on a state level. The right to privacy was the first to go. Kline seized the medical records of abortion patients and handed them over to Fox television personality, Bill O'Reilly, to discuss on his most watched program in country. Kline claimed this was all in the service of trying to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by doctors but every one saw it for what it was: the most public way to intimate women from having and doctors from providing abortion care.

Kline then attempted to intimidate teenagers from seeking any sexual health services, like contraception. Kline interpreted the state's child abuse reporting law so that health professionals who provide counseling about sex, STD testing or contraception to teenagers under the age of 16 would first be required to report the teen to police as a victim of sexual abuse. The Center for Reproductive Rights challenged Kline's interpretation.

According to the Center, under Kline's broadly written interpretation, a school nurse would have to report her 15-year-old student who disclosed that she was "making out" with her 15-year-old boyfriend.

The Center for Reproductive Rights press release issued today explains:

"The Center filed the case challenging the policy and succeeded in permanently blocking it in 2006. Kline and the defendant prosecutors appealed. The case, Aid for Women v. Foulston, was dismissed because the Kansas state legislature recently revised the state’s child abuse reporting law in a way that makes clear that the law does not require blanket reporting of all adolescent sexual contact. In April 2006, the U.S. District Court of the District of Kansas permanently blocked enforcement of Kline’s legal opinion, declaring it irreparably harmful and recognizing that minors have a right to informational privacy concerning sexual activity."

Today, the ninth court of appeals up held that decision. At least Kline didn't come away empty handed. The district court did give him a perfect name for an autobiography, "Irreparably Harmful: the Career of Phil Kline."