By Margery A. Beck | Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Legislature on Friday approved a 12-week abortion ban and restrictions on gender-affirming care for children in a move so contentious that lawmakers on both sides have said they may be unable to work together in the future.
Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill with both measures. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill and met with various lawmakers to shore up support, has promised to sign it into law.
The mood in the Nebraska Capitol has been volatile since lawmakers on Tuesday advanced by a single vote the hybrid measure that ties together restrictions that Republicans across the U.S. have been pushing. Nebraska’s lawmakers have traded insults and promises of retribution, while protesters have loudly voiced their displeasure.
Friday’s debate was briefly stopped when protesters in a chamber balcony stood and yelled obscenities at conservative lawmakers while throwing what appeared to be bloody tampons onto the floor. Security arrested at least one person and cleared the balconies. As lawmakers began voting, chants of “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!” could be heard coming from outside the chamber.
North Carolina also passed a 12-week abortion ban this week, among a slew of restrictions enacted in states after the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion. Fourteen states now have bans throughout pregnancy.
Nebraska, which currently prohibits abortion starting around 20 weeks of pregnancy, had not passed a new ban. The 12-week ban includes exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
The bill also would prevent transgender people under 19 from receiving any gender-confirming surgery. The state’s chief medical officer — a political appointee who is currently an ear, nose and throat doctor — would set rules for puberty blockers…
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