Abortion is topic of dueling protests in Md.

“They say no choice! We say pro-choice!” abortion rights demonstrators chanted Sunday in the Germantown office park.

About 180 people walked in support of LeRoy Carhart, a physician who recently started performing late-in-pregnancy abortions in the office park. It was their kickoff to Summer Celebration of Choice, which will include a week of demonstrations to support the clinic.

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The abortion foes also held their own walk Sunday near the clinic, praying as they did so. Later they held a rally in a Gaithersburg church, during which two women — one 18 weeks pregnant and one 23 weeks pregnant — received ultrasound exams that were projected on a 20-by-20-foot screen, said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition.

The national abortion debate arrived in Germantown late last year after the arrival of Carhart, portrayed as a hero or a killer, depending on which side is talking. Carhart is one of the few doctors in the nation who openly acknowledges performing abortions late in pregnancies. Because of that, and because he wants to expand services, he has become a top focus of antiabortion groups. His friend and mentor, Kansas doctor George Tiller, was fatally shot by an abortion opponent in 2009.

Abortion-rights groups to demonstrate solidarity with targeted abortion doctor during ‘Summer of Choice’

radicalallianceforgenderequality:

Many abortion-rights groups believe Dr. George Tiller’s 1993 shooting and eventual murder in 2009 was in part provoked by a 1991 summer event held in protest of Tiller’s late-term abortion practice. As The Florida Independent recently reported, that event is having a 20-year revival: Summer of Mercy 2.0 will unfold from July 30 to Aug. 7 in Germantown, Md., outside of an abortion clinic run by a provider, Dr. LeRoy Carhart, currently targeted by protests. This time, abortion-rights activists are turning out in solidarity with the target, Carhart.

Summer Celebration of Choice has been billed as a peaceful counterprotest to Summer of Mercy 2.0 and is scheduled for July 31 through Aug. 6 outside of Carhart’s Germantown clinic. The event is being sponsored by Carhart’s Nebraska-based nonprofit corporation Abortion Access Fund, Inc. (AAF), whose mission is to provide abortion funding for women who can’t afford abortions. (In addition to the Germantown location, Carhart also runs a clinic in Bellevue, Neb.) On the first day of the event, money will be raised during a benefit walk.

“Summer of Choice was launched in efforts to show America that we are Prochoice and we will not allow Summer of Mercy 2.0 to mirror the horror from 20 years ago,” said Lindsey Creekmore, co-board chair of AAF, in an email.

AAF has partnered with several abortion-rights organizations and activists to form the Summer of Trust in an effort to create a “peaceful prochoice presence” strong enough to counter the anti-abortion rights coalition, which comprises Operation Rescue, the Maryland Coalition for Life and the Christian Defense Coalition.

“Summer of Mercy 1991 was a catalyst to the following 18 years of harassment, legal battles, attempted murder and multiple clinic vandalisms directed towards Dr. George Tiller, which ultimately resulted in his tragic assassination in 2009,” Creekmore said. “Our goal is to show America that extreme anti-choice tactics will not be supported in Germantown, MD.”

Last month, the National Organization for Women (NOW) held its annual conference in Tampa, Fla., where members passed a resolution of support for both the Summer Celebration of Choice. NOW Action Vice President Erin Matson said the organization has shown strong support for Carhart ever since Tiller’s death in 2009.

“We need to be blunt about what’s happening here,” Matson said. “This is terrorism.”

RAGE is fundraising this month to send Boston-area activists to the July 31 counterprotest and benefit walk.