‘Heartbeat’ abortion bill and measure blocking youth transgender care sent to full Legislature

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include reaction from various organizations.

LINCOLN — A legislative committee, after a few testy exchanges, advanced controversial bills Wednesday evening to make abortion less accessible and ban minors from obtaining gender-altering procedures.

The votes were both 4-2, with one senator, Lynne Walz of Fremont, absent for the executive session.

State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, who chairs the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, said he was not surprised by the divided vote, given the strong feelings on both sides of the two issues.

The abortion bill, Legislative Bill 626, the “Nebraska Heartbeat Act,” would effectively ban the procedure after six weeks, if a physician can detect a heartbeat. It has at least 31 supporters, two short of the 33 needed to head off a filibuster and get the measure passed.

“I’ve never hidden that I’m a pro-life politician,” Hansen said. “I feel that this will save many innocent live.”

‘Let Them Grow Act’

After the votes, State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha pledged to “burn the session” through protracted debate because of the advancement of the “Let Them Grow Act,” which would block any gender alteration procedures prior to a person’s 19th birthday.

“It’s an attack on children, and it attacks very, very vulnerable children,” Cavanaugh said, citing the higher rates of suicide among transgender teens.

Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth, who introduced LB 574, said Cavanaugh is entitled to her opinion but said her intent is to prevent minors experiencing gender dysphoria or unease from “irreversible life decisions that are experimental.”

Cultural divide

The cultural divide between abortion rights opponents and advocates was clearly evident during the executive session of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, as were the divided opinions about the rights of transgender teens.

The conservative shift in the 49-seat Unicameral, following the striking down of the constitutional right to abortion last year, has emboldened abortion opponents to seek further restrictions and energized abortion rights advocates to maintain those rights.

Critics of the “heartbeat” proposal say many women do not realize that they are pregnant until after six weeks, making LB 626 a “near total ban” of abortion.

Cavanaugh and Gretna Sen. Jen Day unsuccessfully requested consideration of amendments to the bill during the closed-door executive session, which is open only to members of the committee and the news media.

An ‘OB-GYN desert’

Day said that the impact of LB 626 would ge far beyond elective abortion and would force obstetricians and gynecologists to leave the state, creating an “OB-GYN desert” in Nebraska.

She added that women could die because their health care would no longer be guided by a physician, but by politicians.

Ralston Sen. Merv Riepe, along with Hansen, disputed that.

LB 626 includes exceptions for the health of the mother, as well as for pregnancies caused by rape and incest.

Unclear rape exception

Cavanaugh maintained that the bill should be amended because it was unclear about how a physician would determine whether a woman had been raped and whether it should be reported to police.

She said that because LB 626 faces a filibuster, it was unlikely that it could be amended during floor debate. Thus, she said, any changes should be adopted by the committee. But Cavanaugh also said making no changes makes the bill more vulnerable to a court challenge.

Riepe argued against amending the bill, saying no matter how much it was changed, it would be challenged in court.

The Let Them Grow Act prompted dozens of people to flood a legislative chamber two weeks ago to testify for and against the bill.

Proponents said that minors need time to grow up before undergoing gender-altering procedures. Opponents decried the meddling of politicians into the families’ personal medical decisions.

Thurston Sen. Joni Albrecht, the chief sponsor of the abortion bill, has indicated that she will likely make it her priority bill, thus guaranteeing it will be debated this session.

Kauth said the trans bill among the bills she is considering prioritizing. If it isn’t prioritized by her or another senator, it would face a more uncertain chance of coming up for debate this year.

Rare ‘minority statement’

Cavanaugh said she doubts that the Let Them Grow Act has 33 votes to withstand a filibuster and thus it would be a waste of time to bring it up for discussion by the full Legislature.

Joining Hansen and Riepe in voting “yes” on both bills were Sens. Beau Ballard of Lincoln and Brian Hardin of Gering.

Cavanaugh and Day voted “no” on advancement of both measures.

Cavanaugh pledged to draft a rarely used “minority statement” on both bills. Typically, when a committee votes out a bill for debate by the full Legislature, its “committee statement” includes only the vote, who testified for and against the measure, and an explanation of the bill.

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