The Republican governor of Nebraska Pete Ricketts wants to ban all abortions in his state with no exceptions for rape and incest.
Last month, Nebraska failed to pass a “trigger law” that would ban all abortions once the Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade.
“The abortion ban you tried to pass did not include any exceptions for rape or incest,” co-host of CNN’s State of the Union Dana Bash said in an interview with Ricketts. “So, can you clarify, do you think that the state of Nebraska should require a young girl who was raped to carry that pregnancy to term?”
Ricketts declared Nebraska to be a “pro-life state” and said he believes life begins at conception so a woman who gets pregnant by rape or incest must carry the child to term.
“Those are babies, too. If Roe v. Wade, a horrible constitutional decision, gets overturned by the Supreme Court, which we’re hopeful of, here in Nebraska we’ll take further steps to protect those preborn babies,” he said.
“Including in the case of rape or incest?” Bash asked.
“They’re still babies, too. Yes, they’re still babies,” Ricketts replied, adding “I will work with our speaker of the legislature to have a special session and do more to protect preborn babies. We’ll have to see what the decision is before we could take further steps but that would certainly be my intention.”
Thirteen states so far have so “trigger laws” that would immediately go into effect if Roe v. Wade gets overturned.
