Nebraska Revised Statute 71-6901

Chapter 71

71-6901.

Terms, defined.

For purposes of sections 71-6901 to 71-6911:

(1) Abortion means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child. Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the intent to:

(a) Save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child;

(b) Remove a dead unborn child caused by a spontaneous abortion; or

(c) Remove an ectopic pregnancy;

(2) Coercion means restraining or dominating the choice of a pregnant woman by force, threat of force, or deprivation of food and shelter;

(3) Consent means a declaration acknowledged before a notary public and signed by a parent or legal guardian of the pregnant woman or an alternate person as described in section 71-6902.01 declaring that the principal has been informed that the pregnant woman intends to undergo a procedure pursuant to subdivision (1) of section 71-6901 and that the principal consents to the procedure;

(4) Department means the Department of Health and Human Services;

(5) Emancipated means a situation in which a person under eighteen years of age has been married or legally emancipated;

(6) Facsimile copy means a copy generated by a system that encodes a document or photograph into electrical signals, transmits those signals over telecommunications lines, and then reconstructs the signals to create an exact duplicate of the original document at the receiving end;

(7) Incompetent means any person who has been adjudged a disabled person and has had a guardian appointed under sections 30-2617 to 30-2629;

(8) Medical emergency means a condition that, on the basis of the physician's good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function;

(9) Physician means any person licensed to practice medicine in this state as provided in the Uniform Credentialing Act. Physician includes a person who practices osteopathy; and

(10) Pregnant woman means an unemancipated woman under eighteen years of age who is pregnant or a woman for whom a guardian has been appointed pursuant to sections 30-2617 to 30-2629 because of a finding of incapacity, disability, or incompetency who is pregnant.

Cross References

  • Uniform Credentialing Act, see section 38-101.