Lincoln, NE – Operation Rescue released the following statement, attributable to Troy Newman, on the signing of two groundbreaking abortions laws in Nebraska:
We are extremely happy that the Nebraska fetal pain bill has been signed into law, along with another that will require mental health screening for abortion patients. Beginning on October 15, these laws will essentially ban all abortions at 20 weeks and later, when it has been determined that pre-born babies can feel pain.
Last year, late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart threatened to reopen an abortion clinic in Kansas and continue post-viability abortions after the closure of Women’s Health Care Services. Our “Keep it Closed” campaign successfully prevented Carhart from coming back to Kansas where he had worked for over 10 years doing abortions on women in their latest stages of pregnancy, some just weeks or even days from their delivery dates.
It soon became clear that Carhart planned instead to conduct the late-term abortions at his existing clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska. (Operation Rescue later confirmed that Carhart has in fact been doing a small number of post-viability abortions in Nebraska, possibly as late as the thirtieth week of pregnancy.)
In response, Operation Rescue conducted an outreach in Nebraska last summer that garnered a great deal of publicity. During interviews generated by that event, Carhart boasted that Nebraska laws were lenient enough to allow him to conduct late-term abortions in that state.
Those statements caught the ear of Speaker Mike Flood, who sponsored the two groundbreaking bills aimed at preventing Carhart from conducting late-term abortions while providing new protections for pre-born babies. Because of that, we consider these new laws as fruit that sprung from Operation Rescue’s efforts to expose Carhart’s late-term abortions.
Operation Rescue extends its appreciation to Speaker Flood and to the wonderful folks at Nebraska Right to Life who stepped up to the plate and worked to insure the passage of these life-saving laws. They saw a need, and jumped in to meet it. For that, they are to be congratulated.
Meanwhile, complaints against Carhart, based on affidavits from former Carhart employees that were submitted by Operation Rescue, Nebraskans United for Life, and Rescue the Heartland, continue to progress. It is our prayer that one day soon there will be a peaceful end to Carhart’s entire abortion business.