Wichita ? Police had to be called to an abortion rights group’s news conference when anti-abortion demonstrators showed up and tried to gain entry.

The half-dozen demonstrators arrived just as the Pro Kan Do political action committee’s news conference was about to begin Thursday morning. They carried signs bearing photos of fetuses and slogans proclaiming Wichita as the nation’s abortion capital.

Pro Kan Do was founded by Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita physician who performs abortions. Tiller, who has particularly angered abortion foes by performing late-term procedures, has survived a shooting and seen his clinic bombed.

The committee was formed to be a counterweight to groups such as Kansans for Life. The groups have organized religious conservatives into a powerful voting bloc favoring mainly Republican candidates.

Troy Newman, leader of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue West, tried to enter the news conference as a journalist, citing articles he has written for conservative papers, Web sites and newsletters.

Pro Kan Do supporters held the door shut to keep out Newman, who said his purpose was as much to confront Pro Kan Do members as to cover the event.

“When anybody stands up in the public square and says they’re for the killing of babies they must be confronted every time,” he said.

After police arrived and talked with the management of the office building where Pro Kan Do has headquarters, they ordered the anti-abortion protesters off the parking lot and onto nearby public property.

Charles Jenney, the Democratic candidate for the 99th District seat in the state House of Representatives, was frustrated that abortion-rights supporters, himself included, couldn’t say their piece at their own office without a confrontation with anti-abortion forces.

“To me it’s kind of indicative of how they act, especially in the state Legislature,” Jenney said. “They kind of do it in a back-stabbing and smarmy way.”

Julie Burkhart, chairwoman of Pro Kan Do, said her group’s No. 1 priority is to support Democratic State Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius in her race for governor against anti-abortion Republican State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger.

Burkhart, the mother of a 1-year-old and a member of the Unitarian Church, said her group will reach out to parents and voters who are religious but not part of the religious right.