Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers appear to be on different pages on whether to call a special legislative session focused on abortion if the Supreme Court repeals Roe v Wade.
Ricketts has said Nebraska needs to be ready to outlaw abortion and he strongly supported a trigger bill this year that failed to overcome a filibuster.
He said earlier this week it’s “questionable” whether a special session held this year at extra taxpayer expense would produce a different outcome.
A Ricketts’ spokeswoman did say Tuesday that he likely won’t decide whether to call a special legislative session focused on abortion until the Supreme Court releases its official opinion.
HIlgers has no such qualms, telling reporters Tuesday that he will work with Ricketts to quickly call a special session after the court ruling comes down.
He made the “trigger” bill his personal priority measure in the regular session and said Tuesday he wants to move “to protect the unborn” as soon as Nebraska “reclaims its constitutional ability to prohibit abortion.”
As for the draft version of the Supreme Court ruling being leaker, Hilgers said that, as a former law clerk for a federal judge, the leak was “both unfathomable and unconscionable.”
Omaha Senator Megan Hunt, who led the filibuster against the trigger bill, promises to make a special session, if called, “the most painful and excruciating political experience my colleagues have ever had.”
Hunt says “Banning abortion care won’t end abortion, it will just make it unsafe for people who need this care“ while criminalizing patients and doctors trying to make the best decisions for their health and families.