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Nebraska passes law banning abortions after 20 weeks

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Nebraska Legislature voted 44-5 on Tuesday to approve the Abortion Pain Prevention Act prohibiting an abortion at or past 20 weeks. The law is based on medical evidence that allegedly indicates a fetus can feel pain following that point and goes beyond the previous state law that prohibited abortions at approximately 24 weeks based on the fetus's ability to live outside the womb. The legislation allows a patient or the father of a fetus to sue a doctor for actual damages when the act is violated. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed the legislation the same day along with another bill approved Monday that would require health care professionals to determine if a woman seeking the abortion had been pressured into the procedure and would also require them to assess the woman for additional risk factors that could lead to mental or physical complications. The Abortion Pain Prevention Act makes Nebraska the first state to prohibit an abortion based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain as early as 20 weeks. The Nebraska laws join recent anti-abortion laws passed in Oklahoma, which prohibit abortions performed because of the gender of the fetus, protect medical employees who refuse to participate in procedures such as abortion based on religious beliefs, and regulate the use of RU-486, or mifepristone, a chemical used in abortion procedures. Advocacy groups have criticized the Oklahoma laws and promised to challenge them in court.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 14, 2010 (boomark / email).