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LINCOLN — Constitutional questions didn't stop the Judiciary Committee from advancing a bill Wednesday to ban late-term abortions in Nebraska.
Committee members also advanced a bill tightening requirements for abortion providers to evaluate women seeking abortions and inform them of any risks involved with the procedure.
The first measure, Legislative Bill 1103, cleared the committee on a 5-3 vote.
The proposal would move up the point in a pregnancy after which abortions would be banned in Nebraska.
Introduced by Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood of Norfolk, it would prohibit almost all abortions starting 20 weeks after fertilization — a point chosen because some experts believe a fetus can feel pain by then.
Current state law bans abortions after a fetus can survive outside the womb — the viability standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, Judiciary Committee chairman, said he thinks several parts of the bill are “suspect constitutionally.”
But Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha said lawmakers shouldn't be paralyzed by the threat of court challenges.
“The fact that there's constitutional concerns here doesn't move me much,” he said.
Viability typically occurs at about 23 weeks to 24 weeks after a woman's last menstrual period, also called the gestational age of a fetus.
The time restriction used in LB 1103 would be the equivalent of 22 weeks to 23 weeks gestational age.
Sen. Amanda McGill of Lincoln predicted that the bill, if passed, would be immediately challenged and would be struck down.
She said it would violate past U.S. Supreme Court rulings in two ways: It would ban abortions before viability, and it doesn't have broad enough exceptions to protect a woman's health.
The measure would allow exceptions to save a woman's life or “avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
Based on the testimony of a former Omaha resident who aborted one twin late in her pregnancy so the other could survive, the committee added an exception to cover cases in which an abortion is needed to save the life of an unborn baby.
Current state law provides exceptions for the life or health of the woman, language which the courts have interpreted to include mental health.
Ashford said he was troubled that the bill would not provide an exception when a woman's mental health was substantially endangered.
But Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha argued that states set their own policies on abortion and that women who are suicidal could seek abortions elsewhere.
Lathrop said LB 1103 “reflects the values and the judgments of people in Nebraska.”
Committee members voting to advance LB 1103 were Sens. Colby Coash, Mark Christensen, Kent Rogert, Lathrop and Lautenbaugh. Those voting against advancement were Sens. Brenda Council, Ashford and McGill.
The committee advanced the second abortion-related measure, LB 594, on a 5-0 vote, with three members not voting. Those voting to advance it were Coash, Christensen, Lathrop, Lautenbaugh and Ashford. Not voting were Council, McGill and Rogert.
LB 594, introduced by Sen. Cap Dierks of Ewing, would spell out that women seeking an abortion must be evaluated for risk factors.
Risks could include any “physical, psychological, emotional, demographic or situational” factors that might complicate an abortion.
The evaluation would have to include an assessment of whether a woman was feeling pressured to have an abortion.
If doctors didn't do the evaluation and then inform a woman of the risks, the bill would allow her to sue for the wrongful death of her fetus.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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