Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he will call a special session of the legislature to pass a total ban on abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade.
Ricketts said he will work with Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers, who’s already pushing for a special session on abortion, on such a session and do more to protect the unborn.
A so-called trigger law was killed by a filibuster late in this year’s legislative session, coming up 2 votes short and at least 2 state senators who did not vote to end the filibuster indicated their decisions were based at least in part on the timing.
Ricketts also made it clear he would support including cases of rape or incest in the total ban, telling CNN’s Dana Bash he believes life begins at conception and what he called “pre-born babies” that are the result of rape or incest “are still babies, too.”
Ricketts talked about other subjects as well, including last week’s primary election where his candidate in the GOP race for governor, University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen, beat Charles Herbster, who was strongly supported by Donald Trump.
Ricketts said he thinks voters in individual states make their own decisions and while people from outside the state “can have an influence…Nebraskans look to their own and made a decision they wanted for their state.”
Ricketts is spending part of this week as one of those outside influencers as he campaigns in Georgia for incumbent Gov Brian Kemp, challenged by Trump-backed former U-S Senator David Purdue.
Trump has been calling for Kemp’s ouster ever since he refused to help Trump overturn his 2020 defeat in Georgia.
Ricketts is co-chair of the Republican Governors Association, a group he told CNN has been very clear in its support of incumbents. He called Kemp “a great incumbent (who has) done a fantastic job for Georgia.
Mike Pence, a former Indiana governor and Trump’s vice president, is also expected to campaign for Kemp before the primary a week from tomorrow.