LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have approved a bill outlawing abortions at 20 weeks based on the assertion that fetuses feel pain then.
Republican Gov. Dave Heineman plans to sign the bill into law Tuesday afternoon.
The law will be the first of its kind in the nation and is almost certain to be challenged in court. If upheld, it could give a new legal foundation to abortion restrictions nationwide.
Current restrictions in Nebraska and elsewhere are based on a fetus’s ability to survive outside the womb.
The bill was meant to stop late-term abortions in one of the few states where there’s a doctor willing to provide them. The bill’s sponsor has said it was partially meant to shut down the work of Dr. LeRoy Carhart of Bellevue.
