While on the surface it would appear that the lawmakers and governor of
Nebraska should be lauded for passing and signing this bill, if the truth be
told, this bill does not go nearly far enough.

Why?

Well, if you take the time to read my lengthy series "Abortion: The
Slaughter Of The Innocent", you will discover that in the United States, a
full 88% of all abortions occur by the twelfth week of pregnancy. That means
that only 12% occur after the twelfth week. Furthermore, if we examine
annual U.S. abortion figures even more closely, we discover that about 4% of
abortions occur between 16 and 20 weeks, and only 1% to 1.5% occur after 21
weeks.

1% to 1.5%.

That is why this law is but a tiny, tiny step towards the ultimate goal. In
fact, when we consider these figures, I would dare say that this law is a
lot of political grandstanding, and not much more.

Yes, we should indeed be thankful that a very, very small percentage of
unborn children will be spared from the abortionist's knife in Nebraska, but
what about the other 98.5% who are not the least affected or protected by
this law?


Nebraska Law Sets Limits on Abortion

By MONICA DAVEY - New York Times

April 13, 2010


Gov. Dave Heineman of Nebraska signed a law on Tuesday banning most
abortions 20 weeks after conception or later on the theory that a fetus, by
that stage in pregnancy, has the capacity to feel pain. The law, which
appears nearly certain to set off legal and scientific debates, is the first
in the nation to restrict abortions on the basis of fetal pain.

Abortion opponents praised the law and said it was justified by medical
evidence gained since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. Abortion rights
advocates said that the measure was unconstitutional, and that the motive
behind it was to set off a challenge to legalized abortion before the United
States Supreme Court.

The Nebraska law grew out of a battle over abortion waged in a far different
forum. After an abortion opponent killed Dr. George R. Tiller, a leading
late-term abortion provider in Wichita, Kan., last year, Dr. LeRoy H.
Carhart, who sometimes worked with Dr. Tiller, said he would carry on his
legacy by performing some later-term abortions in his clinic in Bellevue,
Neb.

Lawmakers in Nebraska were outraged at the prospect of becoming, in the
words of one of the state's leading anti-abortion groups, the next
"late-term abortion capital of the Midwest." Early Tuesday, the state's
nonpartisan unicameral legislature passed the new measure overwhelmingly, 44
to 5.

"I didn't find this bill," Mike Flood, the legislature's speaker said,
alluding to Dr. Carhart. "It found Nebraska." Dr. Carhart could not be
reached for comment.

The law, which is to take effect Oct. 15, restricts abortion in Nebraska on
several fronts. It will forbid abortions after 20 weeks' gestation. The law
it replaces, similar to those in many other states, banned abortions after a
fetus reaches viability, or can survive outside the womb. This is determined
case by case but is generally considered to come around 22 weeks at the
earliest.

The new law grants exceptions only in cases of medical emergency, the
pregnant woman's imminent death, or a serious risk of "substantial and
irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function," a provision
experts interpreted as an effort to exclude an exception based on a woman's
mental health.

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said
abortion rights supporters were considering all options, including legal
challenges to the law.

"If some of these other anti-abortion bills have been chipping away at Roe
v. Wade, this takes an ax to it," Ms. Northup said.

What is perhaps most notable about the law is that it takes aim at abortions
from an utterly different perspective -- the possibility of fetal pain --
than states have tried historically, said officials at the Guttmacher
Institute, a nonprofit research organization that focuses on reproductive
health and rights.

In some states that mandate counseling for women considering abortions, the
women are told of a possibility that fetuses may have the capacity to feel
pain. But no other state cites that possibility as part of a law restricting
abortions.

The question of fetal pain, experts said, is one of intense, unresolved
debate among researchers and among advocates on both sides of the abortion
question.

Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation at National Right to
Life, said that scientific evidence related to the capacity for pain had not
been heard by the Supreme Court, and that it opened a new legal question.

"You need five votes," Ms. Balch said. "I think there are five on the
current Supreme Court who would give serious consideration to Nebraska's
claim."

As part of the same bill-signing ceremony Tuesday, Governor Heineman, a
Republican, signed a separate law requiring health care providers to screen
women seeking abortions for possible physical or mental risks.



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