Nebraska bill seeking to ban abortions introduced first day of state session

A bill seeking to ban a common second-trimester abortion procedure was introduced by a Republican Nebraska state senator Wednesday when lawmakers convened for the first day of this year’s legislative session. 

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Suzanne Geist, would ban dilation and evacuation abortions, which supporters of the bill call “dismemberment abortion.” It is co-sponsored by 20 other state senators. 

Similar abortion bans have been passed in other states, but later faced challenges in courts. 

Geist told reporters at the state capitol that she is not concerned about whether or not courts will block the ban should the bill pass. 

“My job is to legislate, not to worry about what the courts are going to do,” she said, according to NET News.

Planned Parenthood criticized Geist’s bill, saying it aims to harm women in Nebraska. 

Andi Curry Grubb, Nebraska executive director of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said the bill “is not based on a desire to improve women’s health, but rather aims to eliminate access to abortion as part of a larger anti-abortion strategy to ban abortion method-by-method.”

“That is why we, as medical professionals, join the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in opposing these bills,” she added in her statement. “Planned Parenthood opposes medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion, like this one, that interferes with a physician’s ability to provide care to their patients and could cause patients harm.”