Diocese Starts Inquiry About Catholic Doctor : Investigation: A Duluth, Minn., bishop begins process to decide whether a physician who performs abortions should be excommunicated or disciplined.

The Catholic Diocese of Duluth, Minn., is beginning an inquiry to determine if a Catholic doctor who performs abortions should be excommunicated or otherwise disciplined.

Dr. George M. Miks’ home in Chisholm, Minn., was picketed for a week by members of the Lambs of Christ, a group of anti-abortion activists.

In a statement released last week, Miks identified himself as “a Catholic who minored in philosophy and theology at a Catholic university.” He said he “trained in Chicago before Roe v. Wade and I absolutely do not want to ever return to the horrors of those days again.”

He said he did not want to “impose my beliefs on anyone else . . . nor do I wish anyone to force their beliefs on my family or our neighbors. I also do not wish our privacy to be invaded nor the privacy of our neighbors with these terroristic tactics.”

Bishop Roger Schwietz, who heads the Duluth diocese, learned that Miks “might be involved in the direct procurement of abortion” when he read Miks’ statement in a newspaper, according to Dr. Edward Peters, a layman who is chancellor of the Duluth diocese.

“Upon learning of such a possibility, a bishop is required by church law to inquire as to the facts and circumstances of the case. This inquiry is just that, an inquiry, not a trial,” Peters said. “Its purpose is solely to determine the actual state of affairs in the case.”

The bishop said the inquiry would be conducted privately and that at its conclusion “a wide range of possible responses might present themselves. Any speculation on those possibilities at this time would be entirely premature.”

Miks made the statement last week after being identified as the “flying doctor” by the Lambs of Christ, a name given him because he uses his own plane to fly to abortion clinics in Fargo, N.D., Duluth, Milwaukee and Ft. Wayne, Ind.

Lambs of Christ members said they learned that Miks performs abortions when they read court documents in a case in which he is involved and by identifying him as a doctor quoted anonymously in an article in the September issue of Glamour magazine titled, “Where Are the Doctors Who Will Do Abortions?”

The Lambs ended their protest at Miks’ home on Tuesday.