Nebraska lawmakers on Tuesday passed a groundbreaking bill banning abortions at 20 weeks based on assertions that fetuses feel pain then. Gov. Dave Heineman planned to sign it into law in the afternoon.
If upheld by the courts, the bill could change the foundation of abortion laws nationwide. Current restrictions in Nebraska and elsewhere are based on a fetus's ability to survive outside the womb, or viability.
Viability is determined on a case-by-case basis but is generally considered to occur at 22 to 24 weeks.
The Nebraska bill, passed by the state's officially nonpartisan Legislature, is partially meant to shut down one of the few late-term abortion providers in the country, Dr. LeRoy Carhart. He attracted attention after his friend and fellow late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was shot to death by an abortion foe in Kansas last year.
Kansas lawmakers, concerned Carhart was considering opening a clinic there after Tiller's death, passed a law to prevent that, but Gov. Mark Parkinson, who supports abortion rights, hasn't acted on it yet.
Nebraska to limit abortions because of fetal pain
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