Rare motion used to keep anti-abortion bill alive in Nebraska Legislature
LB 933 will now hit the floor for debate
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – There was a very rare moment on Friday at the Nebraska Legislature, and it centered around one of the most controversial topics: abortion.
A bill that would make all abortions illegal unless it’s to save the mother’s life did not pass the Judiciary Committee, but Sen. Joni Albrecht made a motion to bring it to the floor anyway.
The pull motion was passed 28-13, meaning LB 933 will hit the floor for debate.
“History showed how rare this motion is and how difficult it is for this motion to be successful,” Sen. Megan Hunt said. “Colleagues, over the past four years, we have seen this motion used time and time again to subvert the committee process to move radical anti-women, anti-family, anti-choice bills through this Legislature in the way that the majority of Nebraska just doesn’t agree with. Not only that, but it derails the work that we are trying to do on other issues.”
Sen. Lou Ann Linehan said, “We’ve got something very wrong here when we have gender parties, photos getting sent on the iPhone of your grandbabies and that we think abortions are okay, it’s not.”
Every senator gets one priority bill a session, and LB 933 is one of them.
Sen. Ben Hansen said he thinks the bill “does warrant a pull motion.”
Almost every senator was prepared for the motion to pass, whether they were voting for it or not.
“You only care about the vulnerable when it comes from a place of Christian far-right Christian fundamentalists and only when it’s to control the body of somebody else,” Hunt said. “Do you ever notice that? It’s so predictable that you can set your clocks by it.”
Sen. Carol Blood was against the motion and the bill, for different reasons.
“If you don’t like the way a bill is written, regardless of the topic, maybe you choose not to support the bill,” she said. “But when did we become policymakers where we have to support every single bill on the cause, not the content?”
Sen. Dave Murman shared a personal story of how his grandchild was given a terminal diagnosis in the womb.
The doctor said the child wouldn’t survive but a few months. He said that the diagnosis came true, but he was proud of his daughter for giving the baby a chance.
Supporters feel others won’t be given a chance if this bill does not pass.
“I decided I don’t want to carry this child, so kill it. It has nothing to do with rape, it has nothing to do with incest, it doesn’t have anything to do with any of that; it’s just I decided I don’t want to do this and we have killed that life when there are plenty of people out there that would be more than willing to raise that human child,” Sen. Mike Jacobson.
Even though senators began discussion on this bill on Friday, official debate will not begin until later this session. There was some talk about needed a special session to work on this bill if necessary, as this session is quickly coming to an end.
Senators have began debate on the pull motion which would place LB933 a pro-life bill to general file. @Channel8ABC pic.twitter.com/2n5qiN9tt0
— Arianna Martinez (@Arianna_TV) March 25, 2022
