A Nebraska legislator has introduced a bill to ban dismemberment abortions that tear nearly fully formed unborn babies limb from limb while their hearts are still beating. A ban on Dismemberment Abortion, also known as D & E abortion, was introduced in the Nebraska Legislature by Senator Suzanne Geist (LD25) on the opening day of Session.
Senator Geist kicked off the introduction of LB 814 with press conference at the Capitol featuring 20 Senators who have signed on to co-sponsor the bill. Representatives from Nebraska Right to Life, Nebraska Catholic Conference and Nebraska Family Alliance spoke at the event offering their support.
The new law would prohibit dismemberment abortions, a method typically used in the second trimester to kill nearly fully-formed, living unborn babies. It is a barbaric and dangerous procedure in which the unborn baby is ripped apart in the womb and pulled out in pieces while his or her heart is still beating.
“Can you imagine what it would feel like to be torn limb by limb until you bleed to death?” said Julie Schmit-Albin, Executive Director of Nebraska Right to Life. “Now put yourself in the place of defenseless unborn babies who are aborted via this method known as Dismemberment Abortion. We thank Senator Geist for seeking to ban this practice with LB 814.”
“When the abortion industry practices brutal techniques” said Schmit-Albin, ” it only makes sense for lawmakers to seek to end those practices just as they have previously with partial birth abortion and with abortions after 20 weeks based upon fetal pain.”
Judging from Nebraska’s abortion statistics, over the last ten years anywhere from 21 to 186 unborn babies have succumbed to Dismemberment Abortion each year with 32 of those abortions occurring in 2018.
In many cases, the unborn babies may feel excruciating pain as they are being dismembered, Dr. Donna Harrison of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists testified Wednesday. She pointed to studies and practices where unborn babies in the second trimester are given anesthesia during fetal surgery to protect them from feeling pain.
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The dismemberment abortion ban embodies model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee that would prohibit “dismemberment abortion,” using forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a living unborn baby to remove him or her from the womb in pieces. Such instruments typically are used in dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures.
“Banning the brutal dismemberment abortion technique is among NRLC’s highest legislative priorities,” said Ingrid Duran, director of State Legislation. The legislation builds on the precedent set by the Supreme Court in the famous case on partial-birth abortion, Gonzales v. Carhart,” she noted.
“Dismemberment abortion, like partial-birth abortion is a brutal procedure which literally rips a living child apart limb from limb.
Duran added. “In Carhart, the Supreme Court said, ‘No one would dispute that, for many, D & E is a procedure itself laden with the power to devalue human life.’”
Currently, 11 states ban dismemberment abortions: Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and North Dakota. In April, a judge blocked Ohio from enforcing its pro-life law.
