Features

Nebraska abortion doctor threatened with eviction

The Associated Press
Wednesday November 08, 2000

BELLEVUE, Neb. — The doctor at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case over what abortion foes call “partial-birth abortions” is trying to head off eviction from his clinic. 

In May, a partnership of three people opposed to abortion, including state Sen. Paul Hartnett of Bellevue, bought the building used by Dr. LeRoy Carhart. They want to evict Carhart, who is one of only three doctors in Nebraska known to perform abortions. 

Carhart has gone to court, arguing that his lease allows him first right to buy the building. 

Also in May, an anti-abortion group sent letters to 13 area mayors, asking them to take a stand against Carhart moving to their communities. 

In addition, in October, the University of Nebraska Medical Center said it is dropping Carhart as a volunteer faculty member. The medical center gave no reason. 

Carhart challenged Nebraska’s law banning partial-birth abortions. In June, the Supreme Court struck down the ban, ruling that the law created an undue burden on a woman’s right to end a pregnancy. 

Carhart performs more than 1,200 abortions a year, of which he says about 20 employ the “partial-birth” procedure, which involves cutuing the skull of a fetus and draining its contents before extracting the body.