The Nebraska Legislature convened Jan. 6, and over the next couple of months will consider at least a few pro-life measures. The first bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act (LB 594), was introduced last year by Sen. Cap Dierks from Ewing.
This bill would require abortionists to screen for risk factors which place women at higher risk of physical or psychological complications from abortion. It would better protect women from undergoing coerced abortions and ensure that women are given an individualized assessment of risk factors.
LB 594 also removes legal obstacles which typically make it difficult or impossible for a woman to hold an abortionist liable for injuries which may have been avoided with proper screening and counseling.
The problem is that many abortionists have compromised the standard of care for counseling and screening of patients in order to reduce costs and maximize profits. As a result, known risk factors for physical and psychological complications are not detected and women are suffering from avoidable complications.
Even leading mental health associations like the American Psychological Association, which generally downplay the prevalence of post-abortion trauma, have identified risk factors that predict post-abortion problems. And on March 14, 2008, the British Royal Academy of Psychiatrists issued an official statement endorsing the importance of pre-abortion screening for risk factors.
LB 594 had a public hearing last year and is awaiting action by the Judiciary Committee to move this bill to the full Legislature.
A second pro-life bill, the Abortion Pain Prevention Act (LB 1103), was introduced this year by Sen. Mike Flood, the Speaker of the Legislature. This bill would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks of gestation unless the abortion is deemed necessary to avert the mother’s death or to avert serious risk of physical impairment of a major bodily function.
The bill identifies fetal pain as the basis for prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks. It specifically says that “there is substantial evidence that, by twenty weeks after fertilization, unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner which in an infant or an adult would be interpreted as a response to pain.”
It further states that “there is substantial evidence that abortion methods used at and after twenty weeks would cause substantial pain to an unborn child…even if the pregnant woman herself has received local analgesic or general anesthesia.” LB 1103 is awaiting a public hearing date in the Judiciary Committee.
The third measure has to do with fixing a serious problem related to providing prenatal benefits under the state’s CHIP program (Children’s Health Insurance Program). CHIP provides health insurance coverage for impoverished children whose parents are not eligible for Medicaid.
Because of its focus on children, CHIP counts the unborn child as a family member for eligibility purposes. Medicaid does not allow this. Since Nebraska chose to implement the CHIP program by expanding Medicaid rather than establishing a separate CHIP program, the federal government recently notified our state that it can’t continue counting the unborn for eligibility purposes.
Consequently, on March 1, roughly 6000 pregnant women in Nebraska who currently qualify for CHIP (because their unborn children are counted) will no longer be able to qualify and will lose their prenatal care. Roughly 1000 are undocumented pregnant women who cannot get Medicaid but whose children can qualify for prenatal care under CHIP because they will be citizens when they are born.
This presents a couple of serious pro-life concerns. First, if these pregnant women lose their prenatal care, it could have terrible effects on the health of their unborn children. Second, losing prenatal coverage could cause some women to have abortions.
Fortunately, the research of several advocacy groups discovered that, with a slight change to our state’s Medicaid/CHIP program, the federal government will continue to fund prenatal care for these women. Our state’s health and human services officials are seeking legislative authority to make this change and there appears to be strong momentum in the Legislature to provide that authority.
Stay tuned for further updates and action alerts as the Legislative session moves forward.
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