FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 13, 2010

MEDIA CONTACT: 347 563 1647 or nancy.trustwomen@gmail.com

LINCOLN — Today, the Nebraska legislature voted to pass LB 1103. The bill bans virtually all abortions past 20 weeks gestation.

The parents who testified against LB 1103 during Judiciary Committee hearings in late February — Tiffany Campbell, a Nebraska native and mother of three, and Tim Mosher, a firefighter and EMT — are appalled by the legislature’s decision.

Said Campbell, “Twenty weeks into my pregnancy, my husband and I found out that our twins suffered from a condition where one was getting too much blood and the other was getting too little. We had the choice to save one baby or bury two. Speaker Flood came up to me after my testimony and said he’d never heard of a case like mine. But there are hundreds of cases like it where parents may need to choose a selective reduction. These politicians don’t know about them: they’re not doctors. The revised bill allegedly has exceptions for cases like mine. But all it takes is one prosecutor to say they’ll sue the doctor willing to perform the abortion, or one other medical staff to challenge him/her. While they’re all busy arguing, the pregnancy advances and the health risks rise.”

LB 1103 will criminalize the decision of parents like the Mosher’s, whose daughter was daughter was diagnosed at 20 weeks with the most severe level of Spina Bifida, since their abortion was not due to the mother’s life being at risk. Explaining their decision, Mosher says, “Our daughter’s quality of life was diminished, and we, as her loving parents did not want our daughter to suffer. I don’t expect others to truly understand our decision to let our daughter go unless they themselves have walked a mile in my family’s painful shoes. I will always stand upon the simple fact that any and all family medical decisions should in fact stay within the private lives of all families across America, including Nebraska. There is a time and place for politics. That time and place should never be present during crucial medical decisions.”

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To speak with Tiffany Campbell, Tim Mosher, or Julie Burkhart, the executive director of Trust Women PAC, contact Nancy Goldstein at 347 563 1647 or nancy.trustwomen@gmail.com