{"id":32362,"date":"2022-04-07T13:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T19:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=32362"},"modified":"2022-04-14T11:43:45","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T17:43:45","slug":"abortion-ban-trigger-bill-stalls-on-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=32362","title":{"rendered":"Abortion ban \u2018trigger\u2019 bill stalls on first round"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bill that would ban all abortions in Nebraska if states are given full regulatory authority over the procedure stalled on general file April 6 after an unsuccessful cloture motion.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Joni Albrecht<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LB933, introduced by Thurston Sen. Joni Albrecht, would become operative contingent upon one of the three national \u201ctriggering\u201d events: if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade<\/em>, Congress enacts a law giving states complete authority to regulate abortion or the U.S. Constitution is amended to give states that authority.<\/p>\n

The bill would prohibit both medical and chemical abortions starting at fertilization with no exception for cases of rape or incest. A physician who knowingly violates the bill’s provisions would be subject to a Class IIA felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n

A physician charged under the bill\u2019s provisions could claim an affirmative defense that the procedure was necessary to prevent a woman\u2019s death. A woman who attempts or has an abortion would not be liable under the bill. Medical treatment provided by a licensed physician that results in accidental death or injury of an unborn fetus also would not be a violation.<\/p>\n

Albrecht said that since the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade<\/em>, approximately 200,000 abortions have been reported in Nebraska \u2014 a number equal to approximately 10 percent of the state\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is a human right,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is often said that our greatest resource in Nebraska is our people. LB933 is about ensuring our most precious and vulnerable people \u2014 the pre-born \u2014 [are protected] from the violence of abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln spoke in support of the bill. He said the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in 1973 removed the ability for voters and elected representatives to weigh in on the abortion issue. A ruling expected from the court in June could overturn Roe v. Wade<\/em>, however, once again returning the policy question to the states, he said, and Nebraska should be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand with the supporters of science \u2026 that these babies are individual, unique people that are deserving of protection even if they happen to not have been born yet,\u201d Hilgers said. \u201cWe stand with those who have no voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in support was Sen. Michael Flood of Norfolk. In 2011, the Legislature passed a bill that prohibited abortions after 20 weeks gestational age, he said, yet no doctor has been charged with violating that law. The same exceptions that were provided for in the 20-week abortion bill \u2014 such as the provision allowing procedures that involve saving a mother\u2019s life \u2014 also are included in LB933, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNebraska is a pro-life state,\u201d Flood said. \u201cWe pass laws that protect the sanctity of each life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue agreed, saying that pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics in Nebraska by an 8 to 1 ratio. The centers offer a wide array of free services to women such as counseling, support and supplies, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone claims that supporters of LB933 don\u2019t care about mother or baby after birth, I respectfully disagree,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cNebraska was ranked 11th in family-friendliness in having a baby and \u2026 there are many amazing resources available to pregnant women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt filed a motion to indefinitely postpone LB933, which would end consideration of the bill for the session. With so many issues yet to be addressed by lawmakers, she said, the bill would derail other important work. The motion failed on a 13-28 vote.<\/p>\n

Speaking against the bill, Hunt said decisions about whether to become a parent and when are some of the most important that a person can make. Reproductive rights should not be up for debate, she said, and once someone makes the decision to end a pregnancy, their care should be safe, affordable and free from punishment or judgment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis policing of our bodies is something we should be concerned about for the direction of our culture in our country,\u201d Hunt said, adding that LB933 would not end abortion, but would only make it more dangerous.<\/p>\n

Lincoln Sen. Anna Wishart also opposed the measure. Globally, nearly 1 in 3 women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, she said, and the bill would take a \u201csledgehammer\u201d to women\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that women have the right to their bodies,\u201d she said. \u201cThis legislation, while it may claim to be pro-life \u2026 makes Nebraska dangerous to live in as a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh expressed concern that the bill not only would create a felony charge for medical providers who violate its provisions, but also would change the scope of medical practice in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some very significant concerns about how this is going to affect our medical community and our ability to recruit and retain quality doctors [in] our state,\u201d Cavanaugh said.<\/p>\n

Several senators expressed concern that the bill would make no exception for cases of rape or incest. In response, Albrecht said that in 2020, there was one case of incest and 14 cases of sexual assault that resulted in pregnancy reported in Nebraska. One violent act does not justify another, she said.<\/p>\n

Omaha Sen. Jen Day, speaking in opposition to LB933, said victims of incest and sexual assault should not be minimized by lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot offer help to [them] because we are putting the rights of an embryo over a living, breathing human regardless of the circumstances in which a woman was impregnated,\u201d Day said. \u201cAt what point do we see the humanity of the woman as less [important] than the pregnancy she is carrying?\u201d<\/p>\n

After eight hours of debate, Albrecht filed a motion to invoke cloture, which ends debate and forces a vote on the bill and any pending amendments. The motion failed on a vote of 31-15. Thirty-three votes were needed. The bill is unlikely to be placed on the agenda again this session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bill that would ban all abortions in Nebraska if states are given full regulatory authority over the procedure stalled on general file April 6 after an unsuccessful cloture motion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[188],"class_list":["post-32362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judiciary","tag-sen-joni-albrecht"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/LB933Albrecht4-6-22a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32362"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32648,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32362\/revisions\/32648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}