LINCOLN- A bill expected to be introduced this week by a coalition of anti-abortion senators would give pregnant mothers just six weeks to decide to terminate their pregnancy, instead of the current 20 weeks. More specifically, the bill seeks to ban all abortions after an ultrasound can detect a "fetal heartbeat," which is specified as a "steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac."

Under the expected bill, doctors who perform abortions after a heartbeat is detected by ultrasound will lose their medical licenses, and will also be penalized for not performing an ultrasound. State Sen. Joni Albrecht, the bill's sponsor, said she would have preferred to propose a ban with many fewer exceptions, but a similar bill lost by two votes last session.

Albrecht and other proponents acknowledged the political reality of recent polling that indicated a majority of Nebraskans favor neither extreme on abortion, prompting less severe legislation. "I know that in Nebraska, after bringing the trigger bill that we did, I knew that I had to be open-minded to some movement," said Albrecht, "I'm listening to Nebraskans."

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