In 2010, the state of Nebraska became the first in the country to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The bill banning late-term abortions was proposed and passed after abortionist LeRoy Carhart began to offer 22-week abortions following the death of pregnancy termination surgeon George Tiller in Kansas. Carhart moved to Maryland after the bill passed.
Lawmakers introduced the legislation to prevent Nebraska from becoming the "late-term abortion capital of the Midwest,"
The New York Times reported.
Vote Now: Do You Support Tougher Regulations on Abortion Clinics?
Here are some of the quotes from the heated debate around abortion in Nebraska:
• "I didn't find this bill. It found Nebraska.”
– Legislative Speaker Mike Flood on how the bill came into being; The New York Times, April 2010
• "If some of these other anti-abortion bills have been chipping away at Roe v. Wade, this takes an ax to it."
– President of the Center for Reproductive Rights Nancy Northupon the passage of the 20-week ban; The New York Times, April 2010
• "This sort of forced us. We had to do it. In Iowa and Maryland, we can do the later cases."
– Dr. LeRoy Carhart on leaving Nebraska on leaving Nebraska and opening new clinics;
Omaha World Herald, November 2010
• "You kind of saw a one-up-manship among state legislatures. We started to see the 20-week bans, and a lot of them didn't get challenged. So now the momentum seems to be, let's try and push it earlier and earlier."
– Guttmacher Institute state policy manager Elizabeth Nash on the implications of the law since its passage;
The Washington Post, March 2013
• "Our job as a state affiliate of National Right to Life is to continue to buck up against Roe. We have done that successfully in Nebraska."
– Nebraska Right to Life Director Julie Schmit-Albin on the 8 percent decrease in abortions in the state after passage of the 2010 law;
The Washington Times, via The Associated Press, June 2015
Urgent: How Do You Feel About Stronger Regulations on Abortion Clinics?
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.