LINCOLN- On either side of the abortion debate, all eyes are on the judicial fate of Texas’ new abortion law, the most restrictive in the country.

Nebraska lawmakers who have sponsored legislation limiting abortion expect anti-abortion proposals again next year, and so does a lawmaker who has proposed legislation to increase access. But the shape those proposals take may be determined by what happens in the courts.

The Texas law, which went into effect in September, bans abortions once the cardiac activity is detected. That usually falls at about six weeks, before some women know that they’re pregnant. While courts have blocked other states’ attempts at similar restrictions, this law differs by putting enforcement in the hands of private citizens. A federal appeals court allowed the restrictions to remain in place for a third time in the last several weeks alone.

If a Texas-style law were implemented in Nebraska, it would ban a majority of the abortions that are currently performed in the state. A report from the State Department of Health and Human Services showed that about 85% of abortions in Nebraska in 2020 happened at an estimated gestation of six weeks or later. In 2019, that percentage was about 71%.

Abortion rights advocates’ concern that Nebraska may follow in the footsteps of Texas is not unfounded: Gov. Pete Ricketts, who opposes abortion, has lauded the law and hinted that Nebraska lawmakers might use it as a model.

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