Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb on Thursday decried Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts’ support of Alabama’s Republican governor for signing the most stringent abortion legislation in the nation — making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
The legislation, which was praised on Twitter by Ricketts, will make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the provider. There is no exception for pregnancies resulting for rape and incest.
“As Gov. Ricketts applauds a radical bill that will literally put doctors in jail for 99 years and mean more women dying because they cannot access a safe abortion, this is a good time to remember the only thing that will help us achieve the goal of fewer abortions is comprehensive sex education and access to birth control,” Kleeb said. “I submit that if radical Republicans like Gov. Ricketts are so hell-bent on putting women’s lives at risk, they should be forced to sign the death certificates of women who will die because of laws like this.”.
The Alabama law’s sponsors want to give conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court a chance to gut abortion rights nationwide.
“Republicans want their radical actions to make us throw up our hands and say there’s nothing we can do,” Kleeb said. “But in these moments, we must turn to each other for support, organize and fight back.”
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