LINCOLN- The day Senator Albrecht introduced LB626, or the Nebraska Heartbeat Act, she estimated that it would ban around 85% of all abortions in Nebraska. However, many opponents argued during a public hearing two weeks ago that the bill would essentially ban all abortion procedures, while others questioned how the exceptions listed in the bill, like for pregnancies resulting from sexual assault, would work in practice.

According to various experts who conducted research following the bill's introduction, the 85% prediction may be pretty close to the final percentage if the bill is passed. They also cited evidence that suggested that less than 14% of women who received abortions did so at five weeks or earlier. The Department of Health and Human Services also released data confirming that around 15% to 25% of all abortions in Nebraska happen at the six-week mark.

Opponents of the bill also argued that most women don't even realize they're pregnant at six weeks, and that women who do realize it would have a very limited amount of time to receive the procedure if they chose to. During the hearing, several doctors testifying in support of the bill claimed that there are certain procedures that terminate a pregnancy to save the life of a mother, but that they don't consider it an abortion. Lincoln maternal-fetal medicine physician Sean Kenney, a supporter of Albrecht's bill, said he's performed such procedures. "I didn't do an abortion," he said, "I saved [a mother's] life."

For the full article click HERE