DALLAS — Dr Curtis Boyd looks you in the eye and states it clearly, "Am I killing? Yes I am. I know that."
It's a jarring admission from anyone -- especially a doctor, and perhaps even more so for this doctor, whose life work is performing late-term abortions.
"People would be shocked to know I'm an ordained Baptist minister."
Dr. Boyd was ordained in his youth, when he felt a call to ministry. He's now Unitarian, and says he views his work also as a ministry.
He prays often -- perhaps not as often as members of the Catholic Pro-life Committee who gather outside his office.
Certainly, Boyd's prayers are different. "I'll ask that the spirit of this pregnancy be returned to God with love and understanding," he said.
Boyed opened the Southwestern Women's Surgery Center last week on Greenville Avenue in Dallas. By law, he must have a "surgery center" in order to abort a fetus more than 16 weeks along.
He is one of very few physicians willing to go up to 24 weeks.
Boyd says the demand by desperate women is huge. "We see patients from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and across Texas."
Members of the Catholic Pro-Life Committee stand for hours outside Boyd's office, trying to reach women before they make the decision to abort.
"We're certainly disappointed to hear any unborn child will be killed by abortion," said committee spokeswoman Karen Garnett, "but to hear it's a late-term abortion in Dallas? Once again, it's particularly devastating."
The surgery center is in Rep. Jeb Hensarling's district, and he told News 8 he is troubled by the facility.
Boyd says he's troubled, too -- by the torment that drives patients to his services. "The hardest ones are the young girls, nine and 10 years old. Nine is the youngest."
He said he has had too many death threats to count, and he knows some are sincere.
Boyd was a very close friend of Dr. George Tiller, the Wichita, Kansas abortion doctor who was murdered in May.
"I don't want the fate that befell Dr. Tiller," Boyd said, "but I'm not going to be deterred because what I'm doing is important."
Boyd said he doesn't hide, but does look over his shoulder often, shields his phone numbers and address and adds as much security as possible.
He says it's the life he chose because he believes women deserve and need his service -- as controversial as it might be.
E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com
