With new senator, Nebraska abortion opponents gain ground

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Abortion-rights opponents inched closer to a filibuster-proof super-majority in the Nebraska Legislature on Tuesday that would let them outlaw the procedure if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its landmark legalization ruling, as it appears poised to do.

The shift came with Gov. Pete Ricketts' appointment of Kathleen Kauth, a fellow Republican, to an open seat in the state legislature. Kauth made clear at a news conference that she would support an abortion ban in Nebraska.

Kauth, the owner of a mediation business, said she would “consider it an honor” to vote for a bill similar to a proposed abortion ban that narrowly stalled earlier this year. Supporters fell two votes short of the support they needed to overcome a filibuster in the one-house Legislature, which effectively killed the bill.

“I am pro-life and I thought the bill that was recently presented was a very solid one,” Kauth said after she was sworn into office.

Kauth replaces the late state Sen. Rich Pahls, who died in April due to complications from cancer. Pahls was also opposed to abortion and likely would have supported the ban, but his health issues caused him to miss this year's vote where the bill stalled.

Ricketts and other top conservatives have said they'll seek a special legislative session this year to outlaw abortion if the Supreme Court overturns its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, as a draft opinion leaked in May suggests.

Supporters needed 33 lawmakers to overcome a filibuster on the proposal earlier this year, but the final vote was 31-15. With Kauth in office, abortion-rights opponents are now one vote shy of what they need to pass a ban.

One other lawmaker, Democratic state Sen. Justin Wayne, of Omaha, is seen as a key swing vote who might give abortion-rights opponents the...