RE: Legislative bills 933, 781, 1086

Dear State Senators,

As physicians in Nebraska, we believe all health care decisions should be left to us and our patients. Each patient is unique and requires us, as medical experts, to use every tool available to provide evidence-based, high-quality care.  

The proposed bans on abortion directly interfere with our doctor-patient relationships.  Those bills miss the nuances, the art of medicine.  The bans will make us think first of potential criminal charges before providing necessary medical care, sometimes emergent. No patients or situations are the same, so to pass blanket bills like this will have life-threatening consequences. Regardless of one’s personal views on abortion, to criminalize physicians for providing necessary, and often emergent, medical treatment is not appropriate. 

It is dangerous to pass laws which limit doctors' choices and deny patients the evidence-based, compassionate care they need, when they need it. Our state has a physician shortage, particularly in rural areas. The threat of criminal charges will have a chilling effect on the availability and recruitment of physicians to our state whether they take care of pregnant women or not. And separately, these types of bills send a strong message when recruiting young talent to the state.

We, the physicians named below, ask you to stand with physicians and our state’s future by voting NO on LB 933, LB 781, and LB 1086.