The often radical anti-abortion group Operation Rescue is targeting a Nebraska doctor, one of the few in the nation that still openly provides late abortion services.
Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who was a friend of recently assassinated Dr. George Tiller, performs abortions in his Bellevue clinic — and plans to do so even as protesters converge on the location today and tomorrow. After Tiller was gunned down in his Kansas church (by a man who claimed he was an Operation Rescue donor and supporter), Carhart not only vowed to continue his practice, but announced that he is considering opening another clinic in Kansas.
After Tiller’s death, Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, said the doctor “reaped what he sowed.” (As a side note, Terry was ejected from a congressional health care town hall just days ago for, as he put it, a disruption where he would accuse Pres. Barack Obama of “killing Granny and babies.” Velvet Revolution has video of the spectacle.)
And, unfortunately, Terry wasn’t the only member of the “pro-life” community that appeared to celebrate the murder of Tiller.
An Iowa man who is an extremely active member of the community, Dave Leach, has direct ties the man accused of murdering Tiller and said in the aftermath that he couldn’t attack an abortion provider because he doesn’t know enough about guns. Leach has had further contact with the accused since his arrest, and has prepared a legal brief in hopes of earning an acquittal in the case.
Two conservative Des Moines radio personalities, Jan Mickelson and Steve Deace, compared the man accused of murdering Tiller to 19th century abolitionist John Brown.
Dan Holman, another activist who runs Missionaries to the Preborn Iowa, told CNN that he “was cheered by” news of Tiller’s murder. When asked to clarify the statement, Holman responded that he “believe[s] that what [the shooter] did was justifiable.” A slanted 2008 report from World Net Daily regarding Holman’s wife being jailed for refusing a court order boasts that Homan “is on record with the Associated Press as praising those who kill abortion providers.”
Operation Rescue (West) President Troy Newman, who is at odds with Terry about use of the name and the funds it garners, has vowed the protest will be peaceful, but a Bellevue Police Department captain says law enforcement is prepared for worst-case scenarios. Although the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act remains on the books as a tool for law enforcement to protect those providing and receiving reproductive health services, it has been rarely used. And, if Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning has any say, it will likely not be used in Bellevue.
When Carhart said he would offer late abortions in his Nebraka clinic, Bruning said, “I’m disgusted and I’m saddened, and I hate it that he’s here in Nebraska and I hate it that he’s in America.”
Local chapters of the National Organization for Women and other like-minded groups are also converging on the area for counter-protests. In fact, on Friday afternoon, organizers reported that the individuals counter-protesting hailed from 16 states.
In addition to announcing his intention to continue offering late abortion services in Kansas, Carhart has further infuriated anti-abortion activists by saying that he has been actively training doctors who come to him to also provide such services. It has long been believed that anti-abortion activists held a goal of making legal challenges a moot point by driving doctors from such practices with violence and fear tactics.
Readers wanting to keep up-to-date on the happenings in Bellevue may wish to keep an eye on #carhart on twitter.
Author’s note: I’d like any Iowa groups, formal or otherwise, that are planning to travel to Nebraska on Saturday to please send me an e-mail or connect with me on facebook or twitter.
