MADISON, Wis. -- The board of directors of the Madison Surgery Center voted unanimously Friday to allow abortions in the second trimester at its facility.

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The clinic will be located on Park Street, which has been the site of many rallies and protests on the issue.

The hospital said second trimester pregnancy terminations were offered previously by Dr. Dennis Christensen, but those services became unavailable in Madison upon his retirement in December 2008.

The six board members gave final approval Friday, which means that means that program planning will continue. Earlier this week, the UW Hospital board also approved the clinic.

The surgery center is a private joint venture of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation and Meriter Hospital. All three arms of the Madison Surgery Center voted independently to approve the procedures.

"We applaud the Madison Surgery Center for stepping up and filling a critical void in the Madison community. Women across south-central Wisconsin will have access to critical services because of the service the Madison Surgery Center is doing," said Lisa Subeck, of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.

But anti-abortion activists said they'll continue their efforts to protest the abortion clinic.

"This is a blight upon the state. It's a blight upon the city of Madison, which we all love, and it's just very disheartening that they would chose to make this decision," said Steve Karlen of Madison Vigil For Life. "We hope to get the officials at Meriter, and UW and the Madison Surgery Center to realize that they cant just brush us off that easily, that there will be fallout in terms of employee morale, patient morale, and of course the bottom line, the dollars that will be coming in."

UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said it's not known yet when the services will be available to patients.