Nebraska senator thinks abortion, gender-affirming surgery bans will pass

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Sen. Ben Hansen this week introduced an abortion amendment to the Let Them Grow Act.

The amendment would ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy; the bill would ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors.

“This is an attack on trans youth rights as well as abortion rights,” said Scout Richters with the ACLU of Nebraska.

Last month, the Nebraska Heartbeat Act failed by just one vote in the Legislature.

It would have banned abortions at six weeks.

Hansen said his amendment is a compromise that would help pass both measures.

“I think we’ve been backed into a little bit of a corner when it comes to time because of all of the filibustering going on right now and the drama going on,” he said. “So, we can take the heartbeat bill and change it to 12 weeks and move that forward, and we can take the transgender bill in its current form and move that forward. I feel comfortable we have the votes for both of those.”

But opponents see it as a desperate last-ditch attempt.

“We can’t lose sight of the potential devastating impacts that this amendment could have on Nebraskans,” Richters said.

The Nebraska Constitution has a rule that says bills can’t tackle two different topics at once.

And many opponents say this amendment would violate that rule.

“The time should be spent passing consensus legislation and solving real problems rather than putting two bills together that are going to be devastating to Nebraskans and Nebraska families,” Richters said.

But Hansen said that this bill doesn’t break the rule and that such a combination “is not uncommon.”

He said opponents “may have some issues” with this bill because both topics are “sensitive.”

“But I think they’re also going to have some relief about the compromises we made with both of these bills as well,” he said.