Gov. Pete Ricketts will not be calling a special session of the Nebraska Legislature this year to toughen the state’s anti-abortion laws.
Ricketts says Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers told him 30 senators supported calling a special session, 3 fewer than required.
A total ban on abortion was halted during the regular session and leaders of the effort, including the governor, had pushed for a special session on the issue in light of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade and letting the individual states decide whether to ban abortion or not.
They eventually offered something of a compromise, pushing not for a complete ban but instead to tighten the current ban from 20 weeks to 12 weeks. Ricketts supported the idea and blasted those who didn’t support it, saying they were leaving Nebraska in the company of nations such as China and North Korea that also have 20 week thresholds for abortion.
Ricketts urged all Nebraskans who are pro-life to look at the list of state senators wanted the special session and to thank those who did and to contact those who didn’t and ask them to support what he called “this reasonable change to Nebraska’s abortion laws.”