By John Jalsevac
LINCOLN, NE, March 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A bill in Nebraska that would ban nearly all abortions after 20 weeks, because of the pain that such abortions can cause the unborn child, has advanced out of the Judicial Committee by a vote of 5-3 vote.
LB 1103, called the "Abortion Pain Prevention Act," states that "there is substantial evidence that abortion methods used at and after twenty weeks would cause substantial pain to an unborn child."
The bill also points out that, "There is a valid state interest in reducing or preventing events in which pain is inflicted on sentient and nonsentient creatures," and observes that similar measures have been put in place to protect laboratory animals and livestock.
The bill would ban all late-term abortions, except in cases "to avert her (the mother's) death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."
Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood introduced the bill in response to statements made by late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart that he would be doing late second and third trimester abortions at his Bellevue, Nebraska, abortion clinic in the wake of the closure of the infamous Women's Health Care Services (WHCS) in Wichita, Kansas, where Carhart had been employed.
LB 1103 has stirred some controversy because it lacks a mental health exception. However, Operation Rescue, which has closely monitored Carhart's late-term abortion practice, applauded the Nebraska legislature for not including the "mental health" loophole, pointing out that abortionists have used such exceptions in other states to commit late-term abortions for frivolous reasons.
The pro-life organization noted that in Kansas, every late-term abortion committed at WHCS was for 'mental health' exceptions that included such petty reasons as the women would not be able to attend rock concerts, rodeos, or buy a new computer if they continued their pregnancies. The state had no record of any late-term abortions being done to save the mother's life or even protect her physical health.
"Post-viability abortions are more about money than about anything else. We have seen late-term fees charged, based on gestational age from $5,000-20,000 per abortion. It is a very lucrative business," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman, whose group is headquartered in Wichita.
"The mental health exception is simply a ruse so that abortionists like Carhart can commit abortions at any age of gestation for any reason," said Newman. "We have every confidence that if this Nebraska ban on late-term abortions is litigated to the U.S. Supreme Court that it will prevail."