Late-term abortionist Leroy Carhart planning to expand business into other states

Infamous late-term abortionist Leroy Carhart announced via a television interview that he plans on expanding his abortion business (currently located in Nebraska) into three other states: Iowa, Indiana and Maryland.

Part of the move seems based on Nebraska's fetal pain law which prohibits abortions after 20 weeks.

Carhart will open three new clinics by January. Those clinics, along with the clinic in Bellevue, will be called Carhart Centers for Sexual and Reproductive Health.

He said the first of those three clinics will be in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. That clinic will open on Dec. 6.

Looks like he's trying to fill the late-term abortion void left by abortionist Steve Brigham.

The second clinic will open in southeastern Council Bluffs. Carhart said he is still considering one of two buildings. He doesn't know when plans will be finalized.

The third clinic will open in Indianapolis and take the place of a clinic that's already providing services through another practitioner.

"I've said before, we would practice within the laws what they are, and fight the laws to get rid of them, and that's what we're doing," Carhart said.

Carhart said private donations are paying the cost to open the three clinics, estimated to be about $1.5 million.

An article at the Omaha.com web site seems to indicate that Carhart doesn't yet have the $1.5 million.

Opening the Council Bluffs and Washington-area clinics would cost about $1.5 million, he said. He plans to pay for the clinics with “some financing and a lot of fundraising.”

It also notes that Nebraska law forced the expansion and Carhart still wants to challenge the law.

Legislative Bill 1103, which went into effect Oct. 15, bans abortions at 20 weeks after fertilization or later. The law permits abortions at 20 weeks or later only to protect a woman's life or prevent major physical problems.

“This sort of forced us. We had to do it,” Carhart said of expanding elsewhere. “In Iowa and Maryland, we can do the later cases.”

He still plans to challenge LB 1103, but he's working on an effective approach, and it could be months before he and others file a challenge. “We feel it's definitely unconstitutional,” Carhart said.