Nation IN BRIEF : KANSAS : Judge’s Order Quiets Abortion Protests

Three weeks of protests and mass arrests at Wichita, Kan., abortion clinics subsided after a federal judge threatened heavy fines and jail sentences for anyone who blocked access to the clinics. But the Justice Department filed a brief supporting the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. U.S. Atty. Lee Thompson said that the U.S. government took no position on the protests but believed U.S. District Judge Patrick Kelly had no jurisdiction to order the penalties or to spell out how U.S. marshals should enforce them. Thompson asked an appellate court to overturn the judge’s order but said marshals will enforce it unless it is overturned.