A second protest took place on Saturday at the Germantown Reproductive Health Services abortion center that hired LeRoy Carhart to do late abortions.
Carhart, who was based in Nebraska until the state passed a fetal pain bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, came to Germantown to do abortions there since Maryland law is weak on abortion.
He faced an initial protest on Monday with as many as 600 people attending and another 600 people turned up on Saturday to continue the opposition to the abortion facility and Carhart’s abortions late in pregnancy.
Saturday’s protest was organized by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and Christa Lopiccolo, executive director of the department of life issues for the archdiocese, is worried “Maryland is becoming a safe haven” for abortions late in pregnancy because of “the laxity of the law.”
“Our goal is to get Catholics aware of the situation with the state laws in Maryland,” she said, according to the Washington Post.
The protests have been supported by Operation Rescue, a national pro-life group that has been focusing on Carhart.
“In just the past week, over 1,200 men and women have braved wind and freezing temperatures to let the world know that the people of Maryland do not want Carhart killing viable babies in their state,” said OR president Troy Newman.
“This is all happening at an abortion clinic that never had more than one or two protesters a week in its entire history. Protests like these can be expected to continue on as long as babies are dying,” he said.
“This effort is not a flash in the pan. We are committed to a long term campaign to educate the public, awaken and activate the community, and drive abortions from Germantown through the legal process,” said Newman.
Participants gathered at Mother Seton Parish, located near the abortion business, where Father Carlos Benitez said the protest would be motivated by love and not hate or violence.
