During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Gov. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb. made it perfectly clear that, if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the conservative Supreme Court as expected, he doesn't want to see any exceptions made for victims of rape or incest.
Speaking with host Dana Bash, the lawmaker brushed aside concerns about victims of horrific crimes being forced to give birth.
With Nebraska having just failed to pass a so-called "trigger law" that would ban abortions entirely, host Bash asked, "The abortion ban you tried to pass did not include any exceptions for rape or incest," then added, "Can you clarify: do you think that the state of Nebraska should require a young girl who was raped to carry that pregnancy to term?"
Ricketts replied by labeling his state as a "pro-life state" before adding, "Those are babies, too. If Roe v. Wade -- a horrible constitutional decision -- gets overturned by the Supreme Court, which we're hopeful of, here in Nebraska we'll take further steps to protect those preborn babies."
"Including in the case of rape or incest?" the CNN host pressed.
"They're still babies, too. Yes, they're still babies," he replied before adding, "I will work with our speaker of the legislature to have a special session and do more to protect preborn babies."
Watch below or view here:
CNN's Dana Bash: "Do you think that the state of Nebraska should require a young girl who was raped to carry that pregnancy to term?"
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) May 15, 2022
Gov. Pete Ricketts: "Those are babies, too."
Bash: "Including in the case of rape or incest?"
Ricketts: "Yes, they’re still babies." pic.twitter.com/iFdofhhmve
