The Nebraska Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee took nearly eight hours of testimony Wednesday before adjourning without a vote on whether to advance a bill that would outlaw abortion at a point before many women know they’re pregnant
so-called heartbeat billThe bill would ban abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Lawmakers opposed to the ban have already attempted to throw up roadblocks to thwart the measure. Several attended a protest in the rotunda just before Wednesday's hearing that drew around 300 people opposed to the ban, including medical professionals and clergy. Hunt also led a push to move the bill out of the conservative-leaning HHS committee, where it is almost certain to be advanced, and into the more politically balanced Judiciary Committee. She and other lawmakers argued that because the proposal would criminalize most abortions, it should be heard by the Judiciary Committee.
“I think a prosecutor and potentially a jury could find that if you've performed an abortion that's not in compliance with medical practice — enough so to lose your license — then you're also in violation of that criminal law ,” said Democratic Sen. John Cavanaugh, an attorney from Omaha.for helping her 17-year-old daughter end her pregnancy at 24 weeks by supplying her with pills to induce an abortion.
The hearing Wednesday ended with a heated exchange between Albrecht, the bill's main sponsor, and Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who strongly opposes the ban.
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