Friday July 23, 2010
Nebraska AG: Abortion Screening Law Flawed
By James Tillman
LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Although he is pro-life, Attorney General Jon Bruning of Nebraska has said he might not exhaust all legal options trying to keep a new Nebraska abortion screening law on the books.
“Despite the fact I’m very pro-life, I need to be realistic in utilizing the legal resources of the state,” Bruning said.
The Women’s Health Protection Act was passed by the Nebraska Senate on April 12 in a 40-9 vote. Gov. Dave Heineman signed it into law on the day after along with another pro-life bill banning abortion after 20 weeks.
The law mandates that abortionists must screen mothers for evidence of coercion and for risk factors known to increase the probability of post-abortion complications, and that they must notify mothers if they are at a higher risk. It also permits women to sue abortionists for psychological damage if they feel the abortionist did not sufficiently inform them of possible dangers.
Planned Parenthood brought a suit against the law before U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith. On July 14, before the law went into effect, she blocked enforcement of it, stating that it would create a “substantial, likely insurmountable obstacles in the path of women seeking abortions in Nebraska.”
Bruning said today that he is considering whether it will be worth the time and expense to defend the law through what he argues would be an expensive and lengthy appeals process, or whether a new bill should be drafted instead.
He declined to point out the flaws in the bill that could be changed to avoid bolstering Planned Parenthood’s case.
He said the basic idea behind the bill is reasonable, but that if “we were to draft it today, we’d do things differently.”
The Elliot Institute, a group that researches post-abortion complications, has pointed out that the injunction against the bill merely blocks the government from enforcing the law through taking away a doctor’s license, and that it leaves intact a woman’s ability to seek legal action.
Greg Schleppenback of the Nebraska Catholic Conference said that he understood Bruning’s position.
“You have to look at the reality of the situation — to simply fight on, even if the evidence is clear what the judge’s opinion is, if the likelihood of success is low,” he said, may not be “worth the fight.”
Bruning has previously called late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart “one sick individual” and said he hated “it that he’s here in Nebraska, and I hate it that he’s here in America.”
See related stories on LifeSiteNews.com:
Nebraska Judge Blocks Bill Screening High-Risk Abortion-Bound Women
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10071510.html
Updated: Nebraska Enacts Landmark Abortion Health Screening Law
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10041304.html
Late-Term Abortionist LeRoy Carhart “One Sick Individual”: Nebraska Attorney General
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09061513.html