LINCOLN- Last Thursday, on the final day of the Nebraska Legislature's 108th session, Nebraska Right to Life, a large political action committee seeking to end abortion in the state, rescinded its endorsement of Sen. Merv Riepe after he failed to advance a near-total abortion ban last month. Sandy Danek, executive director of the organization, said she was "caught off guard" by Riepe's lack of action on LB626, Sen. Joni Albrecht's original abortion restriction bill that failed by just one vote.

In an attempt to compromise, Sen. Riepe, a hospital administrator, introduced an amendment to LB626 that would increase the abortion ban from 6 weeks post-fertilization to 12 weeks, but was soundly denied by his Republican colleagues. "His action compromises the integrity of our long-standing and sought-after endorsement process that pro-lifers have relied upon for decades when making voting decisions," said Danek, "Now that he has aligned himself with the 'reproductive freedom' ideology, he no longer qualifies for NRL's political support."

Danek said in a statement that Riepe had sought out an endorsement from the organization when he ran for the Legislature last year, and even checked a survey box from Nebraska Right to Life that indicated that abortion should be legal "in no case." Despite the rescindment, Riepe said that he understood where NRL was coming from, and that he had a "change of heart" after delving into the issue of abortion. Part of this research, according to Riepe, even revealed that the formal name of LB626, the "Nebraska Heartbeat Act," was a misnomer, since the heart of an unborn child does not form until roughly 17 to 19 weeks past fertilization.

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