Carhart sues NU officials BY BUTCH MABIN Lincoln Journal Star
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Doctor Leroy Carhart says he was fired because of his opposition to the so-called "partial-birth abortion" ban.
Nebraska's late-term abortion law, declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer, resurfaced Wednesday in a lawsuit against University of Nebraska officials by Bellevue abortion doctor Leroy Carhart.
Carhart, whose 1997 challenge of the so-called "partial-birth abortion" ban led to the high court's ruling in June, is alleging he was terminated from a volunteer faculty position at the Omaha medical center because of his opposition to the law.
"I believe that the University of Nebraska Medical Center fired me in retaliation for successfully challenging Nebraska's abortion ban all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court," he said Wednesday.
According to the lawsuit, pro-life activists and the Nebraska Republican Party pressured the University of Nebraska Board of Regents to terminate the doctor's volunteer professorship in the Pathology and Microbiology Department.
Carhart is alleging the termination violated his First Amendment right of free speech. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Lincoln by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, names as defendants top university officials, including President L. Dennis Smith and medical center Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, and the Board of Regents.
The doctor is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the defendants as well as an injunction restoring him to the position.
Maurer, the medical center chancellor, declined comment on the case Wednesday.
But in an interview, Richard Wood, chief counsel for the university, denied Carhart's claims.
He said Carhart was among about 30 volunteer faculty who lost their positions when the new medical center dean decided to change the standards governing the appointments. Wood said James O. Armitage indicated as early as March or April he wanted volunteer faculty to be aligned with departments that matched their areas of specialization.
Wood said Carhart's appointment was terminated because he was more suited to surgery than pathology and microbiology. The attorney said the names of 183 volunteer faculty - many of them either deceased or no longer living in the state - were removed from the list.
"The bottom line is, the actions taken had nothing to do with any demands made by Metro Right to Life or any other group," he said.
But Bob Blank, president of Metro Right to Life, said the university terminated Carhart's appointment because of public pressure.
"He'd become a poster child for partial-birth abortions," Blank said. "He was a hot potato. I wouldn't be surprised if pro-lifers all over the state contacted regents about him."
According to the lawsuit, Carhart received the unpaid appointment in 1997. He received notice in September 2000 the appointment would be terminated that December, the lawsuit indicated.
Meanwhile, in 1998 a federal district judge barred the state of Nebraska from enforcing the late-term abortion law against Carhart, who performs the rare procedure in his clinic.
Nebraska appealed and the case eventually ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Last June, a 5-4 majority of the court struck down the law, ruling it imposed an "undue burden" on women's right to abortions.
The following month, Carhart alleged in Wednesday's lawsuit, the Nebraska Republican Party passed a resolution asking the Board of Regents to immediately remove the doctor from the faculty.
In August, the lawsuit alleged, the regents sent Carhart a copy of a "hypothetical news release" announcing the doctor's voluntary resignation. The release said the doctor was resigning because right-to-life "extremists" were spreading lies that the doctor was receiving compensation for the appointment.
Then in September, according to the lawsuit, the regents sent Carhart a copy of a petition from Metro Right to Life, an Omaha pro-life group, demanding the medical center "fire 'partial-birth abortionist Leroy Carhart.' "
The next week, Dr. Samuel Cohen, chair of the Pathology Department, told Carhart in a letter his appointment would be terminated Dec. 20, according to the lawsuit.
Regent Charles S. Wilson said Wednesday the board felt no outside pressure.
"(Carhart's termination) came from the med center to us, not the other way around," he said. "It was an attempt by the new dean to make some changes regarding volunteer faculty. It was not just a single action against Carhart."
Wilson said the medical center told Carhart he could apply for another position, but the doctor choose not to.
Chuck Sigerson, chairman of the state Republican Party, denied his organization tried to pressure the regents. He acknowledged the party did pass a resolution in July calling for the doctor's ouster, but questioned why that was an issue.
"The last time I looked, the Constitution extends free speech to everyone, pro-life or pro-choice," he said. "To say that the resolution is a violation of his First Amendment right is a stretch."
Blank, of Metro Right to Life, called the changes implemented by the new dean a cover to get rid of Carhart.
Sherrie Russell-Brown, Carhart's attorney, agreed. "The evidence will bear out that there are faculty (at Nebraska) who are in areas that do not correspond to their areas" of specialization, she said.
She said the medical center did tell Carhart he could apply for another appointment. She said she was unsure if he did so, however.
Wood rejected claims the stated reason for Carhart's termination was a pretext.
"Absolutely not," he said. "But I guess that's the issue that will be litigated in U.S. District Court."
Reach Butch Mabin at 473-7234 or bmabin@journalstar.com.
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