WASHINGTON - Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., on Wednesday endorsed the abortion bills that Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed this week.
One bill would require extensive screening of women seeking abortions, while the other would ban abortions at 20 weeks after conception.
"Clearly, I support both," Nelson said during a conference call with news reporters. "I think the banning of abortions at 20 weeks makes good sense . . . I'm sure there will be people who don't agree with it, but I think both bills are important."
Nelson said he hasn't heard anything yet about the bills from his colleagues on Capitol Hill.
"There's an awful lot of responsibility left to the states in this area and I think that there's a great deal of recognition that the states are in a position to protect the citizens of the state and the Legislature is exercising its judgment and I support that," Nelson said.
Nelson struck a compromise in December regarding federal funding for abortion coverage in the health care bill. Nelson says that compromise adequately separates federal funding from abortion coverage, but he has been strongly criticized over the compromise by groups such as Nebraska Right to Life.
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