Abortion doctor seeks to carry on friend's work

Rights advocates fear loss of service
Abortion rights advocates also worry the group of physicians who can provide the service is dwindling.

"There are very, very few abortions that happen at that time," said Nancy Northrup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, who said she worries about a "severe shortage" of physicians who can perform the procedure. "People who need those services need caring and compassionate and qualified doctors like Dr. Tiller who are able to provide those services."

With Tiller's death, there are fewer than 10 doctors who perform third-trimester abortions in the United States, Carhart estimated, and though he has worked with younger physicians before, he hasn't trained any abortion providers in third-trimester techniques for at least five years.

Carhart, with his wife Mary by his side at a news conference Tuesday, said he'd be willing to train younger doctors but few want to put themselves or their families at risk.

"Young people starting families aren't going to want to go into abortion practice," Mary Carhart said. "If you were young with little kids, would you want abortion opponents outside your house?"

Another doctor who performs third-trimester abortions, 70-year-old Warren Hern of Boulder, Colo., said he's also concerned there won't be enough doctors trained to perform abortions in the future. Hern is listed as being an associate clinical professor at the University of Colorado-Denver School of Medicine, but he said he hasn't been asked to speak on the topic of abortion at the school in 21 years.

Concern about training
Hern, who is being protected by U.S. Marshals following Tiller's killing, said most medical schools shy away from teaching about abortion and doctors also don't want to learn about it.

"There are very few places that are teaching it," he said.

A day after Tiller was shot, Carhart vowed to reopen his friend's Kansas clinic and continue Tiller's mission. But on Tuesday, Tiller's family said there were no plans to reopen the bunker-like clinic's doors. Carhart said he remains hopeful that Tiller's family will change their minds, but if not, he hopes another abortion provider will open a clinic in Kansas where he can work part-time.

For Carhart, the dispute over abortion has long been personal. In 1991, his family's rural home and belongings burned in a fire apparently started by an abortion foe.

But the Nebraska doctor said he's determined to continue doing what he does — despite any risks.

"As long as you have a terrorist who is willing to walk into a church and kill one person, as long as that element is in society, this is the risk we take," he said. "You can't live your life based on fear. You have to live by your principles."

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