BELLEVUE, Neb., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Supporters outnumbered protesters Saturday in Bellevue, Neb., at the only clinic in the Midwest still performing third-trimester abortions, observers said.
Dr. LeRoy Carhart's abortion clinic is temporarily offering third-trimester abortions after his friend, Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kan., was fatally shot May 31, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Previously, Carhart had referred women asking for third-trimester procedures to Tiller.
The newspaper said Operation Rescue, Rescue the Heartland and Nebraskans United for Life organized Saturday's protest, and members planned to approach women going into the clinic.
But national and local abortion-rights organizations, including the National Organization for Women, organized the counter-protest, and said they would shield women headed for the clinic from anti-abortion demonstrators, the World-Herald reported.
The newspaper said about 50 anti-abortion protesters prayed at the south side of the clinic for nearly five hours, while about 100 abortion-rights supporters gathered in front of the clinic.
Both sides said the event would be peaceful, and there was no violence, the newspaper said.
