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An anti-abortion protester caused a disturbance at Winston Churchill High School on Thursday morning during the opening of school, according to Montgomery County Public Schools officials.

The protester was a woman who was holding anti-abortion signs and handing out fliers to students on a sidewalk near the school as class was beginning between 7 and 7:30 a.m., according to police.

"She had a few signs and handed out fliers to individuals willing to take the fliers. She wasn't forceful," said Tenesha Jensen, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County Police.

Liz Witter, the parent of a sophomore at the school, saw the protester when Witter was dropping off her daughter. She said the woman was sitting on a chair on the sidewalk next to the school's entrance where many students were walking by.

"She had a big poster and at the top was a picture of a healthy baby, and in big words, ‘Life,'" Witter said. "Then right below it, there was a large picture of a shriveled up, dead baby saying ‘Abortion.'"

According to Jensen, the sidewalk where the protester was standing is considered public property, though it is near the school. Peaceful protests are allowed as long as they are not disrupting street or pedestrian traffic, Jensen said.

However, some school officials were concerned that it was school property, Jensen said. Handing out leaflets on school property is not permitted without the permission of the principal, according to Kate Harrison, a spokeswoman for MCPS.

The school's educational facilities officer asked the protester to move across the street, Jensen said. The woman complied. "Some parents were upset, but there wasn't any commotion associated with it," she said.

Witter said she was concerned that the woman was protesting abortion at a high school. "It was a really inappropriate spot for that kind of stuff to be going on," Witter said.

Jensen said the woman had also been outside Bethesda Chevy Chase and Blair high schools around the beginning of the school year.