The controversial abortion clinic which had been operating in Germantown for 20 years has closed after the clinic is set to be purchased by the group which has bee fighting to stop the clinic from operating since 2011.

Germantown Reproductive Health Services is one of only a few clinics which provided late-term abortions closed its doors permanently on August 30, according to the clinic’s website. The clinic is being purchased by the pro-life group, Maryland Coalition for Life, which has been staging protests at the clinic for almost a decade.

The Maryland Coalition for Life, a staunch anti-abortion organization which has protested at the site and even opened Germantown Pregnancy Choices, a pro-life pregnancy center in the same office complex as the clinic in 2011. According to a Washington Post article, a donor came forward this summer to provide Maryland Coalition for Life with the funding allowing the group to purchase the clinic.

The clinic, which had been located on Wisteria Drive in Germantown, made headlines in 2010 when Dr. LeRoy Carhart, one of only four doctors in the United States known to provide late-term abortions made it known that he was working at the clinic. The addition of Carhart put Germantown on the front line of the pro-life/pro-choice battle. Protesters and picketers could regularly be seen standing outside of the office complex on Wisteria Drive.

Carhart lives in Nebraska where he operates a clinic but does not perform late-term abortions since Nebraska outlawed the practice in 2010. Two months ago, Carhart and his supporters started fundraising for a new clinic through the crowdsourcing website generosity.com.

According to the website, “the clinic in Germantown closed its doors forever.” It states that Carhart “has been exploring creating his own practice and finding the perfect location to provide the best care to women and their families. This clinic in Maryland will not only provide gestationally advanced abortion care, but also training future providers.”

Photo courtesy Google Maps.