By Dave Andrusko

Please send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

By this time on Friday, pro-lifers are hoping the unicameral Nebraska Legislature will have passed LB 675-- the Mother's Right to See Her Unborn Child Ultrasound bill-- and Gov. Dave Heineman will have signed the measure into law. As of today, signs are positive. On a previous vote legislators supported the bill 37-5.

"The bill takes us one step closer to ensuring that a mother has the opportunity to see her unborn child's humanity before making a life and death decision," said Mary Spaulding Balch, NRLC director of State Legislation. "This is a classic example of 'informed consent,' which is why the abortion lobby always opposes such laws."

Contrary to the impression often left by opponents, almost all abortionists already use ultrasounds. Under LB 675, there is a subtle but important difference.

NRLC's Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch (left) shown with Nebraska Right to Life Board members after speaking about LB 675 at the Nebraska Walk for Life on January 31. From left to right, Mary, Denise Ashby, Julie Schmit-Albin, and Barb McPhillips.

Typically, at an abortion clinic viewing the ultrasound is an "option" that few women know they have. Ordinarily, the screen is turned away from the woman and for her to see the image she has to check off a box at the end of a form that she might not even have noticed.

Under the Nebraska law abortionists who use ultrasound would be required to position the screen in a way that the mother can easily see it and inform her that she can see the image of her unborn child, if she so chooses.

"Abortion clinic personnel do everything in their power to dissuade women from viewing an image of her baby," Balch said. "They understand how ultrasounds act as a reality check at a crucial time." Nebraska's law would "minimize the capacity of the abortionist to dissuade her from viewing the image."

As Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, told National Right to Life News, if passed, LB 675 "will be one of the strongest ultrasound laws in the country." The key, according to Schmit-Albin, is that it shifts the burden.

No longer would the mother in crisis need to ask to see the ultrasound. The abortionist would be required to display the ultrasound screen to her, although nothing would prevent the mother from averting her eyes from the screen if she decides not to view it, Schmit-Albin explained.

"LB 675, the Mothers' Right to See Her Unborn Child Ultrasound Bill, would not have passed in the form it did had we not received tremendous assistance from National Right to Life and most particularly Mary Spaulding Balch," said Schmit-Albin. "NRLC's commitment to passing an ultrasound bill in Nebraska which most closely follows NRLC's model was the key to success," Schmit-Albin said.

"Mary came to Nebraska twice to speak to our grassroots," Schmit-Albin added. "Her scope of knowledge regarding abortion legislation and case law is unsurpassed and truly impressed those she worked with in Nebraska."

Schmit-Albin concluded, "Were it not for Mary and NRLC I doubt LB 675 would have remained in as pristine a condition that it has. It truly troubled our adversaries on the floor of the Legislature and in the abortion lobby."

Part Two -- Al Pacino to Play Jack Kevorkian In HBO Movie