The Nebraska state legislature has given initial approval to a bill banning dismemberment abortions that tear off babies’ limbs.
Pro-abortion Democrats blocked the bill previously but today lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval on a 34-9 vote after supporters broke through a filibuster led by abortion supporters. To overcome Democrats’ filibuster, the Dismemberment Abortion Ban (LB 814) needed at least 33 votes.
The bill would prohibit abortion procedures that use clamps, forceps or similar instruments to remove pieces of a living unborn baby from his/her mother’s womb. These abortions typically are referred to as dilation and evacuation, or D&E, and are common in the second trimester when unborn babies are nearly fully developed. The ban does not apply to unborn babies who are already dead. Doctors who violate the ban would face fines and felony charges.
“I think it’s a fitting time to ask ourselves what’s the value of life,” Sen. Suzanne Geist, of Lincoln, who sponsored the bill, said during the debate. “LB814 would end the practice of killing a live baby in the second trimester of pregnancy by pulling off its arms and legs piece by piece until it either bleeds to death, its spinal cord is cut or its skull is crushed. It’s an unthinkable way to dispose of a child.”
Meanwhile, pro-abortion Democrats slammed the bill as a waste of time and a violation of women’s freedom.
“We aren’t truly free unless we can make decisions about our own lives, our own bodies,” said state Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha.
Earlier this month, Hunt promised to use every devious trick up her sleeves to fight against the bill, including a filibuster.
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“I’m going to pull every shenanigan out of my sleeve to stop this bill. And that might not be something you like but when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes,” she said.
The bill would protect unborn babies from barbaric, torturous deaths, a former abortionist and retired OB-GYN Dr. Kathi Aultman told the state legislature in February, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
Aultman, who later became pro-life, described how she used to abort unborn babies in this way. She said she would drain the amniotic fluid from the womb and then use a clamp to pull the baby’s body apart and remove the baby in pieces from the womb, according to the report.
Gov. Pete Ricketts, a pro-life Republican, supports the legislation.
The state health department reported 32 D&E abortions in 2018.
Dismemberment is a common second-trimester abortion method in which an unborn baby is typically pulled apart limb from limb while their heart is still beating. In the second trimester, unborn babies are nearly fully formed, and strong scientific evidence indicates they can feel pain.
Eleven states have passed laws to ban dismemberment abortions: Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and North Dakota. However, the abortion industry is challenging many of them in court.
Action: Call or email Nebraska state senators and tell them to end the atrocity of dismemberment abortion.
