monday, april 24, 1978
daily nebraskan
page 5
Work, ceremony highlight last day of legislative session
College students and Nebraska state
senators have much in common.
Both leave loads of work to the last
minute. Both leave their respective terms
with a mixture of ceremony, sentimentali
ty and parties.
In its last busy Friday, the Legislature
passed more than 35 bills and 10 resolu
tions. Among the controversial business con
cluded in that final session was LR152,a
resolution calling for a constitutional
amendment on abortion. The resolution
passed 36-6 after lengthy debate over mov
ing the issue from the bottom of the day's
agenda to the top.
The legislators also heard a final farewell
speech from Gov. J. James Exon.
After a session often marked by accusa
tions from the governor thai the Legisla
ture is forcing an increase in the state tax
rates, and denials from the Legislature that
they are responsible, the governor once
more chastised the senators for overrides of
his vetoes.
"I have sent you several messages cau
tioning you against excessive spending,"
Exon said, "The record is clear in that
regard, despite attempts to distort it . . .
Only your override of my vetoes can lead
to an increase in the state tax rates."
Governor vetoes on two controversial
measures, LB210, a bill to repeal the state's
Sunshine Law, and LB184, an anti-litter
bill which taxed manufactured items that
cause litter, were upheld.
But the last hours of the session were
filled with ceremony and sentimentality.
On the sentimental side, the legislators
voted to present Lt. Gov. Gerald Whelan
with a gavel and a Nebraska state flag as
momentos of his eight years as presiding
officer in the Legislature.
The body passed resolutions honoring
retiring senators and praised one another
for their fine work.
Retiring Sens. Harold Moylan and John
Savage, both of Omaha, had the ceremon
ial honor of escorting Exon into the cham
ber for the farewell address.
Retiring Sen. Jack Mills of Big Springs,
inspired by high school tradition, be
quethed his seat in the back of the room,
and other valued possessions to his fellow
senators.
And after the ceremonial motion to ad
journ "sine die," the body left to celebrate.
Sen. John DeCamp of Neligh
lature
Photo by Ted Kirk
relaxes at his desk during a session of the Nebraska Legis-
Debate centers on abortion amendment
By Kate Gaul
The need for a constitutional amendment to ban abor
tions was debated Sunday in the Nebraska Union in the
last of four debates. It was carried live statewide by Neb
raska Educational Television.
The pro-amendment side was represented by Ann
Bowen, past president of the Nebraska Coalition for Life,
and David Hibler, assistant UNL English professor and
organizer of the debates.
The anti-amendment side was represented by Barbara .
Gaither, executive director of the Nebraska Civil Liber
ties Union, and Philip Hugly, associate UNL philosophy
professor.
Hibler said the rights guaranteed to citizens in the De
claration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were
intended to include the unborn.
He called the 1973 Supreme Court decision permitting
abortions "perverted." That decision "rendered govern
ment destructive of its very ends" to preserve life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.
Gaither said such an abortion amendment would in
fringe on one's right to control one's own body, the right
of privacy and the right to reproductive freedom.
Gaither said in law the religious and moral beliefs of
one group should not take precedence over the beliefs of
another.
Hibler said each person can have an opinion, but that
"choices can be made. We all have different opinions but
the provable fact exists that life begins at conception."
Hugley said it was not the anti-amendment debater's
goal to support abortion but to support the right to
choose.
"No one wants to live in a society where lives are con
trolled by law or utterly devoid of law. Laws should be
limited but not eliminated," Hugly said.
The debate was sponsored by the UNL Faculty Convo
cations Committee, the Middle American Debating Socie
ty and the Young Americans for Freedom.
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