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Breaking News: First-Ever Abortion Ban Based on Fetal Pain Passes in Nebraska
Life Site News ^ | April 13, 2010 | Peter J. Smith

Posted on 04/13/2010 3:25:08 PM PDT by NYer

OMAHA, Nebraska, April 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Nebraska legislature has given final approval to a new law banning abortion after 20 weeks gestation on the basis that an unborn child feels pain at that age.

The new law is the first of its kind in the United States and pro-life advocates believe it could pose a direct and historic challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which deprived the states the power to regulate or restrict abortion.

The “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (LB 1103), authored by Speaker Mike Flood, passed Tuesday on the third and final reading of the bill by an overwhelming pro-life majority of 44 in favor and 5 against.

Gov. Dave Heineman is expected to sign LB 1103 into law.

The law’s passage is especially historic, because it portends a fresh new challenge and look at the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases, which led to the virtual legalization of abortion on demand. The Nebraska law applies a different standard – that of the unborn child’s ability to feel pain - for restricting abortion, while the high court used the standard of what they then considered to be point of fetal viability.

"The Nebraska Legislature took a bold step today which should ratchet up the abortion debate across America," said Julie Schmit-Albin, Executive Director of Nebraska Right to Life in a statement today.

"LB 1103 creates a case of first impression for the courts to acknowledge the capability to feel pain as a compelling state interest to protect those unborn babies from an excruciatingly painful death.”

The legislation, which now awaits the governor’s signature, bans abortions after 20 weeks of post-fertilization age with two exceptions: first, when the pregnancy puts the mother in danger of death or “substantial and irreversible” physical harm to a major bodily function. The second exception was added in an amendment and allows an abortionist to perform late abortions for the sake of increasing the probability of a live birth, or to preserve an unborn child’s life and health after a live birth.

Although the topic of fetal pain is still under much discussion (and controversy, owing to its implications to the abortion debate) a growing consensus of medical knowledge has pointed to the fact that unborn infants experience pain by 20 weeks and possibly earlier. The pain may even be more acute than for older humans, as some research indicates their immature nervous systems have not developed coping mechanisms that help the body better endure pain.

The law notes that unborn children have been observed to “seek to evade certain stimuli” in a manner that “would be interpreted as a response to pain.” Additionally, the bill says unborn children exhibit “hormonal stress responses to painful stimuli” that were reduced with the application of pain medication.

Abortionists who break the law would face a Class IV felony charge, which carries a penalty of a five year maximum prison sentence, $10,000 fine, or both.

The bill would allow women and even the fathers of aborted unborn children to sue and seek damages from abortionists who violate the law.

The law, if passed and signed into law, would become operative on October 15, 2010.

Developing …


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Government; US: Nebraska
KEYWORDS: abortion; fetalpain; fetus; moralabsolutes; nebraska; prolife; unborn
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To: highlander_UW

That’s pretty much how I felt. As a rule they were so self absorbed they didn’t care about anyone else.


101 posted on 04/14/2010 4:30:24 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: NoExpectations
...or an animal they’d throw you in jail

It's evil enough to make you cry.

102 posted on 04/14/2010 4:30:57 AM PDT by highlander_UW (First we take down the Democrats, then we clean the Augean stable that is the GOP.)
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To: NYer

Im sorry but I couldnt even finish reading the article. I dont need to in order to know abortion is murder. Its strange but abortion is probably my biggest concern because it so emphasizes the evil of the left; if they are ok with this, they are ok with anything. Yet I read the least about it, because I cant stand to.


103 posted on 04/14/2010 4:32:02 AM PDT by D1X1E (Trust but verify... especially if you got your information from the government.)
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To: driftdiver
That’s pretty much how I felt. As a rule they were so self absorbed they didn’t care about anyone else.

How can people fall so far as to celebrate the death of the innocents? I just can't grasp it....and I don't want to be able to.

104 posted on 04/14/2010 4:32:30 AM PDT by highlander_UW (First we take down the Democrats, then we clean the Augean stable that is the GOP.)
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To: dools007

No. It is demon possession. There is no other explanation for such evil. :*(


105 posted on 04/14/2010 5:55:33 AM PDT by pillut48 ("Stand now. Stand together. Stand for what is right."-Gov.Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue")
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To: Cedar

Request: PLEASE just provide a link and a description rather than the actual picture please. My 9 y/o reads FR sometimes and this would give her nightmares (as it will ME) for the rest of her life. Thank you. :*(


106 posted on 04/14/2010 5:57:28 AM PDT by pillut48 ("Stand now. Stand together. Stand for what is right."-Gov.Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue")
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To: Pinkbell

One of HolyO’s very first acts in office was cancelling that out. *sigh*

I despise the man MAINLY for this issue, his rabid support and even ENDORSEMENT of infanticide. Hearing his comments about babies being called ‘pre-viable fetuses’ who don’t deserve to be helped when born alive after a botched abortion just cemented the fact for me that he’s demon possessed to be so evil.

And he could be every color of the rainbow for all I care. Killing babies and endorsing infanticide is EVIL. Period. >:-(


107 posted on 04/14/2010 6:03:00 AM PDT by pillut48 ("Stand now. Stand together. Stand for what is right."-Gov.Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue")
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To: D1X1E

{{{Hugs}}}

As a mother, I hear you. Loud and clear. :*(


108 posted on 04/14/2010 6:05:02 AM PDT by pillut48 ("Stand now. Stand together. Stand for what is right."-Gov.Sarah Palin, "Going Rogue")
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To: mamelukesabre

there already law prohibiting animals to be slaughtered in a painful method.


109 posted on 04/14/2010 6:29:04 AM PDT by MNDude (The Republican Congress Economy--1995-2007)
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To: pillut48

I didn’t know that. What kind of leader of a free nation has such little regard for the most vulnerable among us that he doesn’t care if they are stabbed in the back of the head with scissors and their brains suctioned out? It’s so morally reprehensible.


110 posted on 04/14/2010 7:11:01 AM PDT by Pinkbell
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To: Pinkbell

Apparently his ban was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007, but see the following (and the Boston Globe article on the “lethal injection” method):
~~~~~~~~~

Is partial birth abortion legal in the US in 2009?

no it was made illegal in 2003 unless the mothers ife is in jepordy and the doctor has to go to a hearing first to get permission to do it.

Actually that’s incorrect.

According to \”The Vagueness of Partial-Birth Abortion Bans: Deconstruction or Destruction?\” by Maureen L. Rurka in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, the United States is the only country in the world where it is still legal for a woman to get a partial birth abortion.

People say \”If it jeapordizes the woman’s health\” But if you read the fine print, you’ll learn that the governemtns defines the woman’s health as mental health, physical health, spiritual health, emotional health, etc.

So If she simply sees the baby as an inconvenience, she could claim that it will effect her \”mental health\” and have a partial birth abortion without any further questions.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_partial_birth_abortion_legal_in_the_US_in_2009
~~~~~~~~~~~

Shots assist in aborting fetuses: Lethal injections offer legal shield

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/women/articles/2007/08/10/shots_assist_in_aborting_fetuses/?page=1


111 posted on 04/14/2010 7:54:45 AM PDT by thouworm
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To: NYer

Awesome! Abortion advocates have to reveal the monsters that they are to fight this.


112 posted on 04/14/2010 8:02:42 AM PDT by my small voice (A biased media and an uneducated public is the biggest threat to our democracy)
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To: Spudx7
I am 20 weeks along and feeling my baby move around as I type. A ban based on the baby’s ability to feel should probably be earlier...I have felt movement for several weeks and he/she always “jumps around” if I have something very cold to drink.

Absolutely. I could intuitively tell my child's gender without a test within eight weeks after conception, and his personality was also apparent from the third month of pregnancy. He "jumped around" as if teasing me when I sat down to meditate quietly. After he was born, he started making jokes when he could barely talk. He's almost 30 now and has always had a very high intelligence and a witty and jovial personality.

113 posted on 04/14/2010 8:12:11 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (Liberals love the poor so much they came up w/ a plan to create millions more of them. - Ann Coulter)
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To: skoobedoo

ping


114 posted on 04/14/2010 8:14:12 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: redgolum

Yes, ‘cause we need all the help we can muster to unseat Lord Ben Nelson’s deeply ensconced pompous ass from his gilded throne


115 posted on 04/14/2010 8:34:14 AM PDT by TCH (DON'T BE AN "O-HOLE"! ... DEMAND YOUR STATE ENACT ITS SOVEREIGNTY !)
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To: svcw
They don't care because it is not a baby to them.

It is a baby to them. They just don't care. Liberals are the same heartless monsters as the Nazis in WW2. I.e., the only life that deserves any consideration is their own. The rest of us are expendable.

116 posted on 04/14/2010 9:00:13 AM PDT by LouAvul
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To: NYer

hijacking thread alert...

you were warned.

wasn’t one of the arguments for the terri schiavo murder, that it was ok because starving to death was blissful...

just wondering.

teeman


117 posted on 04/14/2010 9:34:49 AM PDT by teeman8r (anarchy is preferred over tyranny)
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Comment #118 Removed by Moderator

To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...
a new law banning abortion after 20 weeks gestation on the basis that an unborn child feels pain at that age
Thanks NYer.
119 posted on 04/14/2010 6:11:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: NYer

Rachel Maddow and her guest are having a fit over the Nebraska law tonight which is a good sign as to its effectiveness.


120 posted on 04/14/2010 6:49:30 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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