LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska lawmaker who tanked an effort last year by his fellow Republicans to pass a near-total abortion ban has given top priority this year to a bill that would allow abortions beyond the state’s 12-week ban in cases of fatal fetal anomalies.
The bill by state Sen. Merv Riepe would amend Nebraska’s 12-week abortion ban, passed last year, to allow abortions in cases when a fetus is unable to survive outside the womb. That diagnosis must come from two doctors who determine that, regardless of any life-saving treatment, a fetus is incompatible with life outside the womb and will result in death upon birth or shortly thereafter. The diagnosis and abortion must come before 20 weeks of pregnancy — a timeline consistent with Nebraska’s previous 20-week ban on abortions.
The bill also removes criminal penalties for doctors who perform an abortion outside the exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
The bill comes as the nation finds itself embroiled in a tug-of-war over abortion access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide for nearly five decades.
Since then, about two dozen states have enacted some form of abortion restrictions, and that has led to some high-profile cases that have stirred national pushback. Kate Cox, a Texas mother of two, sued last year to obtain an abortion in her state after learning the baby she was carrying had a fatal genetic condition and that carrying to term could leave her infertile. Her request was denied by the Texas Supreme Court, and she left the state to seek an abortion elsewhere.
The uproar over that and other cases has been met by a slew of voter initiatives over abortion access, all of which have so far favored the side supported by abortion rights supporters. In Nebraska, advocates are trying to collect about 125,000 signatures needed by July 5 to put a constitutional amendment before voters to protect…
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