A Nebraska lawmaker is suggesting the Legislature amend the state's new 12-week abortion ban to include exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies.Â
State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston offered LB1109 as one of 31 new bills introduced Wednesday. The bill would allow pregnant mothers to receive an abortion beyond the 12-week ban if at least two physicians determine that the fetus has a terminal condition that would result in death outside of the womb.Â
Riepe was a major player during the Legislature's debate on abortion restrictions last year. When lawmakers were considering a bill that would effectively ban abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, Riepe cast the deciding vote that prevented the bill from moving forward.Â
Prior to that vote, Riepe proposed amending the bill with provisions similar to those in LB1109. It would have banned abortions at 12 weeks post-fertilization and included an exception for fetal anomalies. Lawmakers rejected the amendment.Â
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Instead, lawmakers passed a 12-week ban based on gestational age by amending it into a different bill that also restricted access to gender-affirming care for people under 19. Riepe voted yes on that bill, calling it a "reasonable compromise," but later said he would continue working on possible revisions.Â
Riepe said the state shouldn't expect a woman to carry a pregnancy to term when she knows the child won't survive, and noted that sometimes women don't find out about a fatal fetal anomaly until after the 12-week mark.
"It's their decision," Riepe said. "It's not a state decision."Â
Another reason Riepe introduced LB1109 is because of an ongoing petition drive that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the Nebraska Constitution. Riepe said his bill would make Nebraska's abortion regulations more reasonable, and therefore would decrease the chances of the initiative being successful.Â
The initiative proposes a constitutional amendment that would protect legal abortion care until “fetal viability,†which differs with each pregnancy but is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks gestational age. It also would trump all existing abortion restrictions currently on the books in Nebraska.Â
As of Wednesday afternoon, Riepe said he hadn't spoken to leading lawmakers on abortion about his proposal.Â
Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, who has introduced several abortion restriction measures in past sessions including a proposed total ban, disagreed with Riepe's belief that the fate of his bill would have an impact on the petition drive.Â
"I think that we covered our bases," she said.Â
Albrecht said she has no reason to support Riepe's bill. Since the Legislature passed its previous 20-week abortion ban — which did not include an exception for fetal anomalies — Albrecht said she hasn't been made aware of any incidents of hospitals needing to change their processes to account for such an instance. She also said some women want to carry their pregnancies to full term even if there is a fatal fetal anomaly.Â
But Sen. Jen Day of Omaha, a vocal abortion-rights supporter in the Legislature, said Riepe's proposal would make Nebraska's current abortion restrictions more reasonable and humane. She recalled that her sister learned of a fatal fetal anomaly when she was 23 weeks pregnant, and said the situation was traumatic both for her sister and Day herself.Â
Day said Riepe's proposal, if passed, might weaken the push for the abortion-rights petition.
"The more reasonable the other side can be, the less chance the ballot initiative is successful," Day said. But she said she wasn't sure that consideration would actually sway lawmakers' votes.Â