Nebraska Reintroduces "Justifiable Homicide" Abortion Bill

A new, more expansive version of South Dakota's "justifiable homicide" bill, which reproductive rights supporters believed would legalize the killing of abortion providers, has been reintroduced in Nebraska's state legislature, Mother Jones reports. Introduced by state Sen. Mark Christensen, the bill reaches beyond South Dakota's proposal of allowing a woman, her husband, or her family to commit "justifiable homicide" in defense of a fetus, and instead would apply those same protections to any third party. "LB 232 is really nothing more than an attempt to make sure a pregnant woman is not unnecessarily charged with a crime for using force to protect her unborn child from someone who means to bring harm to her unborn children," Christensen said. ACLU lobbyist Alan Peterson said, "If they wanted it that narrow, they should have drafted it that way, and they did not. I have reasonable suspicion that the intent was at least to create a possible broad defense for attacks on abortion providers."