Senator Ricketts’ Weekly Column: Protecting the Dignity of Human Life

The pro-life movement is about love, compassion, dignity, and respect. Nebraska is a pro-life state. As Senator, I’m fighting to uphold those values. Recently, I supported a bill to require babies that survive abortion attempts to receive the same medical care as other babies who are born. I also introduced legislation to ensure human remains are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Nebraska has led the way in defending life. In 2010, our state was the first state to pass legislation protecting babies after they could feel pain. When I was Governor, we banned the barbaric practice of dismemberment abortion. We bolstered our informed consent protections for mothers. We provided pregnant moms priority parking spots and nursing mothers’ rooms at state buildings. We cut maternity and childcare healthcare costs. We allowed state teammates to donate unused vacation leave to support expectant mothers.

In 2023, the Legislature passed a bill to expand protections to more babies. And last year, our state again showed the nation what we could do to defend life. We were the first state to pass a pro-life ballot initiative. We also rejected a radical pro-abortion ballot initiative.

We celebrate how much progress we’ve made in supporting life. But there’s more work to do.

Supporting life isn’t just about reducing abortions. It’s also about ensuring all people are treated with dignity and compassion.

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is one way we do that. It’s a bill that isn’t really about abortion. It’s really about compassion. In 2002, Congress passed bipartisan legislation recognizing that children who survive abortion attempts are persons under federal law. But they didn’t criminalize the denial of medical care to babies who survive an abortion. The Born-Alive bill rectifies that. In cases where a baby has survived an abortion attempt and is born, she must be provided the same level of medical care that would be provided to any other baby. It gives the baby a fighting chance at life.

These cases aren’t hypothetical. They involve real people. Melissa Ohden’s mother was pressured into an abortion attempt in Sioux City, Iowa. Melissa survived the attempt. Her nurse heard her cries and rushed her to the NICU. She was later adopted and has led a very productive life. Our society is better off because her nurse had compassion and provided care.

Our respect for human dignity should also include how we treat human remains. This means showing care and compassion, even after life has ended. A few years ago, the remains of over 2,200 aborted babies were discovered in an Indiana abortionist’s home. People were shocked to find out that these children would be treated like common medical waste. It’s horrifying. I introduced the Dignity for Aborted Children Act to address this. My bill is also not really about abortion, but about respecting human dignity. It would require abortionists to dispose of the remains of unborn children in the same way as any other human being who dies.

All people deserve to have their dignity respected. That’s the message pro-life Nebraskans bring at each year’s Walk for Life. Working together, we can create a culture that respects life at all stages.