‘Heartbeat Act’ fails cloture vote, kills bill for remainder of session
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Legislative Bill 626 did not pass the cloture vote in the second round of debate Thursday.
In today’s cloture vote, there were 32 ‘yes’ votes, 15 ‘no’ votes, and Senator Merv Riepe of Omaha and Senator Justin Wayne of Omaha did not vote. The bill needed a two-thirds majority, which is 33 ‘yes’ votes, to overcome the filibuster, so it fell one vote short of that. Senator Riepe had introduced an amendment to change the proposed abortion ban from roughly six weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks. The amendment was not voted on.
10/11 reached out to Speaker John Arch’s office who told us that because this is a priority bill that failed the cloture vote, the bill is dead for the rest of this legislative session.
Governor Jim Pillen issued a statement in response to today’s cloture vote.
“I am a staunch defender of Life and supporter of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act. I am profoundly disappointed in the cloture vote today. It is unacceptable for senators to be present not voting on such a momentous vote. I call on Senator Merv Riepe to make a motion to reconsider and stand by the commitments to Life he has made in the past.”
With LB 626 failing to pass, abortion in Nebraska will continue to stay legal up to 20 weeks.
“Today, Democrats were joined by 1 Republican to protect women’s reproductive freedom in our state. If it were up to the other state senators, women would have lost a right we held for over half a century. The Democratic Party plans to take this issue to the voters during the 2024 elections so they know which senators wanted to take away their reproductive rights and freedom to make health decisions for ourselves and our families. We thank the state senators, doctors, and grassroots advocates for never giving up and for showing the entire nation that we will not back down from a fight to protect our families.”
On Twitter, Senator Megan Hunt of Omaha’s District 8 posted a video with the caption, “Speechless. Thank you. Abortion is legal in Nebraska.”
Speechless. Thank you. Abortion is legal in Nebraska. pic.twitter.com/56UgThZoo5 — Senator Megan Hunt (@NebraskaMegan) April 27, 2023
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Source: KOLN
