Wichita ? Jury selection in the Kansas case of one of the nation’s few late-term abortion providers ended after three days with a panel evenly split between the sexes.

A jury of six with two alternates was chosen Wednesday in the case of Dr. George Tiller, who is accused of violating the state’s late-term abortion law. The alternates will not be designated until the end of trial testimony.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain a second opinion for late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by Kansas law.

Opening statements are scheduled for Monday morning.

“This case is being tried in the hotbed of this whole anti-abortion issue, so there is a certain cauterizing that takes place with trials like this,” said Philip Anthony, chief executive officer of the national jury consulting firm DecisionQuest. “Jurors want to put the issue to rest. Putting the issue to rest calls for a conviction in a case like this because it seems to me if he is acquitted the controversy just continues on.”

Anthony, who is not consulting with either side on this case, said in a telephone interview that Tiller faces an uphill battle given the history of the case and the need of a lot of people to bring this issue to closure.

The 18 potential jurors who made it to Wednesday’s proceedings watched intently as attorneys silently passed a list of their names back and forth, taking turns to strike names. Each side was allowed to strike five names without giving a reason.

Five strikes per side is not a lot for a controversial case such as this one, said Anthony, adding that normally in controversial criminal cases the defense gets at least 20 strikes and the prosecution gets at least a dozen strikes.

“It is unlikely they eliminated all biased people,” Anthony said.

Potential jurors had been asked earlier in the week to set aside their personal views about abortion. At least three were dismissed early in the process when they acknowledged their anti-abortion beliefs would make it difficult to remain unbiased.

Jury questionnaires in the case are sealed.

Anthony said the most dangerous people to put on a jury are those who acknowledge they have views on an issue but claim they can overcome them.

“The reality is most people can’t overcome those views,” Anthony said. “When it comes time to deliberate, it all comes crashing forward.”

If convicted, the Wichita doctor could face a year in jail or a fine of $2,500 for each misdemeanor charge.