Nebraska Right to Life rescinds endorsement of State Sen. Merv Riepe

LINCOLN — Nebraska Right to Life announced Thursday it has rescinded its endorsement of State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who played a role this year in the defeat of a near-total abortion ban.

Sandy Danek, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, said her organization was “caught off guard” by Riepe’s “non-vote” — a “present, not voting” position — during the second-round debate on the approximately six-week abortion ban.

State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston led that measure, Legislative Bill 626, which would have banned abortions after an ultrasound detected embryonic cardiac activity. 

Riepe, an original cosponsor of LB 626, voted to advance the bill from the Health and Human Services Committee to the full Legislature.

A few weeks later, however, Riepe proposed an amendment to ban abortions at 12 weeks post-fertilization.

A month later, he voted to advance LB 626 to the second round of debate — on the condition his amendment would receive a fair hearing and vote during the second round.

Instead, some of the bill’s supporters blocked a vote on Riepe’s amendment. Partly as a result of that, he withheld what would have been the 33rd vote on LB 626.

“His action compromises the integrity of our long-standing and sought-after endorsement process that pro-lifers have relied upon for decades when making voting decisions,” Danek said of Riepe. “Now that he has aligned himself with the ‘reproductive freedom’ ideology, he no longer qualifies for NRL’s political support.”

Danek said Riepe sought and received the organization’s endorsement when he ran for the Legislature in 2022. Riepe had checked a survey box from Right to Life stating that abortion should be legal “in no case,” she said, and he included handwritten comments on the survey.

“Senator Joni Albrecht and Senator Suzanne Geist have agreed to serve as a reference to my character and integrity regarding right to life,” Riepe wrote. Geist had previously led legislation against abortion.

Riepe, a former hospital administrator, said Thursday he understands where Nebraska Right to Life is coming from.

He said he had a “change of heart” after he delved into the issue, including diligent thinking, reading and studying of the issue. Part of that work, he added, showed that LB 626 — the “Nebraska Heartbeat Act” — was a “misnomer” because the heart does not form at six weeks but closer to 17 to 19 weeks.

“Do I like abortions? Absolutely not. Do I want abortions? Absolutely not,” Riepe told the Nebraska Examiner. “But I live in a real world, and I know that there have been abortions before the days of Christ.”

After the six-week ban failed to pass, Riepe was part of the negotiations to revive and pass an abortion ban in a different form — this time tied to 12 weeks gestational age, about 10 weeks post-fertilization. Lawmakers paired the new measure with restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors in Legislative Bill 574.

However, Danek said, Riepe’s actions still compromised the integrity of the endorsement process.

Riepe said he wants what former President Bill Clinton popularized related to abortion: for them to be “safe, legal and rare.”

“I don’t blame them, though. I understand why they’re very upset with me,” Riepe said of Right to Life. “It’s like many things in life: If you had a do over, you’d probably do it different — or I would.”