CV NEWS FEED // Gov. Jim Pillen, R-NE, on Monday signed into law a bill that protects unborn babies from abortions after 12 weeks of gestation and also protects Nebraska residents from sexual surgeries and procedures until the age of 19.
LB574, which included both the “Let Them Grow Act” and “Preborn Child Protection Act,” came to the governor’s desk a few days after it passed through the legislature in a party-line vote of 33-15.
Pillen, a practicing Catholic active in his parish community, called the bill “the most significant win for social conservatives in a generation.”
“It’s an extraordinary privilege to be a part of answering prayers that have been going on for 50 years. We’re standing up to protect our kids so our state and our kids have a brighter future,” the governor said:
This bill is a part of what certainly will be a historic legislative session. It’s all about protecting our kids.
The bill is simply two things. It’s about protecting our kids and saving babies. It bans abortions after 12 weeks. It’s the first piece of legislation to save babies in Nebraska in decades.
The law took effect immediately. It provides exceptions in the cases of “rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.”
The 12-week pro-life law came less than a month after a six-week law failed to pass the Nebraska legislature in late April, falling one vote short of clearing the threshold to avoid a filibuster.
The companion provision of the legislation made Nebraska the 18th state to ban subjecting minors to so-called “gender-affirming” procedures. LB574 goes even further than similar laws in other states, as Nebraska’s age of majority is 19. In 47 of the 50 U.S. states, the age where a person is legally considered an adult is 18 – the other two exceptions being Alabama, where the age of majority is also 19, and Mississippi, where it is 21.
>> 7 STATES THAT BANNED SO-CALLED ‘GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE’ FOR MINORS <<
>> 7 MORE STATES THAT BANNED SO-CALLED ‘GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE’ FOR MINORS <<
Nebraska is currently the only state that has a unicameral legislature. While it is officially “nonpartisan,” all of its members, except one socialist, identify with a political party, with registered Republicans currently enjoying a 2:1 majority. Nebraska legislators are commonly called “senators.”
On Friday morning, shortly before LB574 came to a vote, Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, D-NE, took the podium to express her opposition.
“Trans people belong here, we need trans people, we love trans people,” she chanted for two minutes in an increasingly loud tone of voice. By the end of her time, the lawmaker was screaming and wildly gesticulating.
Cavanaugh also posed with pro-“trans” protesters who stormed into the Nebraska state capitol on the day of the vote.
As the New York Post reported:
Friday’s debate was briefly stopped when protesters in a chamber balcony stood and yelled obscenities at conservative lawmakers while throwing what appeared to be bloody tampons onto the floor.
As lawmakers began voting, chants of “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!” could be heard coming from outside the chamber.
At least six people were arrested at the Nebraska state capitol building after lawmakers passed the bill.
Cavanaugh is a self-professed Catholic who last month was featured as one of CatholicVote’s “zeroes” in the monthly Heroes and Zeroes initiative, which holds Catholic leaders accountable to the teachings of the Church.
The state senator made the list for asserting that her enthusiastic support of the LGBTQ+ movement stemmed from her Catholic faith. This was celebrated in an article published in the far-left National Catholic Reporter.
