Politics

‘We Will Get It Over The Line:’ Red State Lawmaker Pushes Heartbeat Bill And Tax Credit For Pregnancy Centers

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• Republican Sen. Joni Albrecht announced “The Nebraska Heartbeat Act” to restrict abortions in Nebraska after the detection of a heartbeat and another bill “The Nebraska Pregnancy Help Act” to create a tax credit for donations to pregnancy centers. 
• Under “The Nebraska Heartbeat Act,” in vitro fertilization (IVF), miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and medical emergencies regarding the life of the mother are the only conditions under which an abortion is allowed.
• “If you are going to ask for people to deliver these babies you’ve got to be able to take care of them, both the mother and the child,” Albrecht told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Nebraska Sen. Joni Albrecht announced Wednesday she is introducing two new pieces of pro-life legislation that would restrict abortions in the state after a heartbeat is detected and create a tax credit for donations to “pregnancy help organizations.”

Nebraska’s current law bans abortions after 20 weeks except for several cities that completely banned the practice via local ordinance, according to the Nebraska Examiner. Albrecht announced the bills in a press conference Wednesday and said she would be officially introducing the bills Thursday.

“I knew that we needed to really hear the hearts of Nebraskans, and Nebraska has always been a pro-life state,” Albrecht told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “In Nebraska, this is where we feel the most strongly that we can save the most babies with the heartbeat bill.”

“The Nebraska Heartbeat Act” requires doctors to provide an ultrasound before performing an abortion with exceptions for cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies, according to a press packet. No criminal charges would be imposed on the patient or the doctor if an abortion were performed illegally, however, the doctor’s medical license would be subjected to disciplinary review by the director of Public Health and the Nebraska Board of Medicine and Surgery.

“If the director finds the Nebraska Heartbeat Act has been violated, the doctor/abortionist’s medical license will be subject to discipline,” the press release stated. “If the doctor/abortionist performed an unlawful abortion in violation of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act, his medical license will be subject to revocation.”

Treatment for miscarriages, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and ectopic pregnancies are exempt from the bill, as a compromise with legislators, according to Albrecht. A medical emergency is defined as any condition that would put the life of the mother at risk according to “reasonable medical judgment.”

Albrecht’s second bill, the “Nebraska Pregnancy Act,” aims to “support and empower women and families” in Nebraska by creating a tax credit for donations to pregnancy centers, according to a press release. If passed, the act would provide for up to $10 million in tax credits to aid pregnancy centers in their efforts to provide pregnant women and mothers with “food, housing, transportation, baby supplies, and job training.”

“If you are going to ask for people to deliver these babies you’ve got to be able to take care of them, both the mother and the child,” Albrecht told DCNF.

Albrecht said she believed there would be enough of her fellow legislators who would support the bill once it came to a vote and stated that she was “very confident” that newly elected Gov. Jim Pillen would sign the bill if it came across his desk.

“We have 28 or 19 state senators standing with us today, our threshold is 33,” Albrecht said. “There were things we needed to do to get the numbers we need and I do feel confident we will get it over the line.”

A spokesperson for Pillen told the DCNF that he “supports both bills and will always work to protect unborn babies and support mothers.”