We Are Nebraska

Last week, the Des Moines Register ran an article about Danielle Deaver. Last August, Danielle and her husband, Robb, found out that she was expecting the couple's second child. But three months later, Danielle's water broke, and a subsequent ultrasound revealed that there was virtually no amniotic fluid around the fetus. Specialists told the couple that there was a less than 10% chance that their child would have a heartbeat or be able to breathe on its own. Danielle and Robb talked about what to do, and decided to end the pregnancy. But when they asked their doctor for help, the doctor told the couple that she couldn't perform an abortion.

Danielle Deaver lived in Nebraska, a state that had just recently passed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks except in cases where the woman's life was in jeopardy. Because Danielle's physical health was not at risk, she could not obtain abortion care. Instead, Danielle delivered her daughter, and watched her struggle for breath during her fifteen-minute life.

I can not even imagine being in such a hideous situation. It is horrible enough to learn that your child has virtually no chance of surviving birth, but to have even your choice about how to end that pregnancy taken away? To be told by a legislative body that has no idea what kind of suffering and stress you are experiencing, that they know better than you?

Nebraska's law is based on the controversial theory that a fetus can feel pain after 20 weeks gestation. No hard facts exist as to whether this is actually true, although last year the U.K.'s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a study that concluded that fetuses can not feel pain before the 24th week of gestation. And of course, the Nebraska law also directly contradicts Roe v. Wade, which holds that abortions may be performed up to 24 weeks.

Nebraska is the only state that has passed a 20-week ban, but it might have company soon. As of this writing, Florida, Kansas, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Kentucky are all considering 20-week bans. My state's not on that list, and honestly, it's liberal enough that it probably never will be. But you know what? I don't care. Because even if my right to choice isn't being directly threatened, the rights of a whole lot of other women are. And because time and again we have seen that once we lose ground, it's damn near impossible to gain it back. Do you really think that some future Nebraska legislature will reverse itself, just out of the goodness of its heart? Yeah, me neither.

So it's not just the women of Nebraska that have seen their rights shrink. It's all of us.