State Legislation I’m Tracking

Details: 15 February 2013

The Nebraska Legislature has been in session for more than four weeks and well over 600 bills have been introduced.

Here are some of the bills my office supports:

Healthcare Freedom of Conscience Act (LB 564): Introduced by Sen. John Nelson (Omaha), the purpose of this bill is to protect as a basic civil right the right of health care providers to decline to participate in any health care function that violates his/her conscience. It defines conscience as "the religious beliefs, moral convictions, or ethical principles held by any health care provider."

As the bill states, "[w]ithout comprehensive protection, health care rights of conscience may be violated in various ways, such as harassment, demotion, salary reduction, transfer, termination, loss of staffing privileges, denial of aid or benefits, administrative penalty, punishment, or sanction, and refusal to license or refusal to certify." The growing evidence of such conscience violations can be seen online at www.freedom2care.org.

Updates on Informed Consent Information Prior to Abortion (LB 300): This bill, introduced by Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, would improve the fetal development information available to women prior to obtaining an abortion. In 1993, the Nebraska Legislature enacted a law requiring certain informed consent provisions before an abortion can be performed.

For example, women must be told about the medical risks associated with the abortion procedure and with carrying a child to term, the probable gestational age of the unborn child, and that she has the right to review printed materials containing fetal development information and pictures.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required by law to provide a printed booklet containing the fetal development information and pictures and the current booklet is reasonably well done. The problem is that these booklets appear to be largely unused, perhaps because younger women (those most likely to seek abortions) get most of their information online.

LB 300 directs HHS to develop a dedicated web page on its internet site containing all the information required under the informed consent law. It directs HHS to provide a link on this web page to the website of the Endowment for Human Development, which contains video of 4D ultrasound images of an unborn child at two-week gestational increments. And it requires abortion mills with web sites to provide a link to the HHS web page on their home page.

Here are the bills my office opposes:

Mandatory Sex Education (LB 619): Sen Ken Haar (Lincoln) introduced this bill which mandates so-called comprehensive sex education in public schools. The bill prescribes the components which must be addressed in an approved curriculum which includes information on the "consistent and correct use of all contraceptive methods approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration…"

School-based Clinic’s and Contraception (LB 395): This bill was introduced by Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln. It proposes to remove the provision in current law that prohibits school-based clinics from dispensing, prescribing or counseling for contraceptive drugs or devices.

This prohibition was added to the bill authorizing school-based clinics a few years ago at the request of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, and was fully supported by the sponsor of that bill, Sen. Jeremy Nordquist.

Medicaid Expansion for Contraceptive Coverage (LB 452): This bill, also introduced by Sen. Conrad, would require Nebraska to expand its Medicaid income guidelines for eligibility to receive taxpayer subsidized contraceptives and treatment for sexually-transmitted diseases.

Throughout this legislative session my office will provide updates (and perhaps action alerts) on these and other issues. Those who are interested in tracking these and other bills or in contacting their state senator can do so on the Unicameral website at www.nebraskalegislature.gov.