Mate coalition
lobbys senators
to strike bills
Abortion rights advocate
calls trust the real issue
By Steve Smith
Senior Editor
Abortion rights advocates came together
Friday at the State Capitol to let Ne
braskans know they believe they stand
for the majority opinion, and then scattered
throughout the statehousc to lobby state sena
tors.
The second annual abortion rights lobby
day, sponsored by the 23-membcr Pro-Choice
Coalition of Nebraska, drew about 200 support
ers, who stood holding a 30
foot banner that read “Pro
Choice Coalition of Ne
braska: The majority
speaks.”
“Trust, or an absence of
trust, is the real issue here
today,” said coalition presi
dent Sharon Rowe. She referred to several bills
introduced in the Legislature that could restrict
a woman’s chance to have an abortion.
Rowe urged that three bills—LB110.LB156
and LB660— be struck down by state senators.
LB110 would require physicians to discuss
the development of the fetus with a woman
seeking to abort a pregnancy, she said. LB 156
is a proposal to prohibit the use of public
facilities and funds for abortions, and LB660
would eliminate a duty for school districts to ,
provide certain information relating to abor
tion.
“Proponents of these measures suggest we
need protection from ourselves,” Rowe said.
“These proposals reflect anti-choice views to
ward women that say we can’t be trusted.”
Rowe reiterated the theme of the lobby day
by asking lawmakers and citizens alike to put
their trust in Nebraskan women.
“Women prove daily that we arc no less
trustworthy than men. We arc judges, laborers,
transportation workers and even legislators,”
Rowe said. “We arc trusted to legislate others,
but not ourselves.
“Trust the women in the slate of Nebraska.
We can — and we will — decide.”
The rally coincided with the 20th anniver
sary of the monumental Roc vs. Wade Supreme
Court decision, which legalized abortion, and
look place on the heels of the inauguration of
President Bill Clinton, an abortion rights sup
porter.
But Rowe said although there was a man on
the abortion rights side in the Oval Office,
plenty of work remained to be done.
“Nebraskans must continue to work hard to
make abortions safe and legal for women in this
state,” she said.
See LOBBY on 6
' Michelle Paulman/DN ^
Jennifer Putzi, a graduate student in English, argues with Tim Campion of Wymore in front of the Nebraska
Union Saturday. '
Walk For Life ‘
Demonstrators march on anniversary of Roe vs. Wade
^ * -_!_
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Reporter
Thirty years ago, Lee Ezell was the vic
tim of rape.
Nine months later, she gave her daughter,
Julie, up for adoption.
Saturday, Julie Makimaatold her story to
4,400 anti-abortion demonstrators outside
the State Capitol before the start of the 20th
annual Nebraska Walk For Life.
“I want to share with you my story," she
said. “Many of you are pro-life and believe
that abortion is murder and that children
See related story on page 6
should be protected. Many of you struggle
with the issue of wondering what to do when
a woman becomes pregnant by assault.
“What is the compassionate answer for
this woman and that child?" she said. “We
want to stand up lor that child, but we don’t
want to turn our backs on the women who
have unexpected pregnancies."
Makimaa, of Springfield, 111., founded
— 9V
A lot of people are pro-life,
a lot are pro-choice, and
there are many who don’t
know what they are.
—Hanigan
UNI student
-ft -
Fortress International in 1990 to counsel
women, children and families affected by
sexual assault pregnancies.
“Many women who had pregnancies from
assaults, who did take the life of their child,
followed the advice of many of their friends,”
she said. “They arc (now) saying, ‘Wait a
minute, I thought the abortion would put my
life back together.*
“But that’s not what the abortion did in
their lives. It only rc-viciimizcd them in a
different way. Many of these women sec me,
and they have difficulty coming to the real
ity of what they did. They say, ‘I was the
victim, I was hurt by this person, but then I
turned around and look the life of the other
innocent victim of the assault.’”
After the rally at the Capitol, the demon- ,
strators marched to the Federal Building.
The march commemorated the 20th anni
versary of the landmark Roe vs. Wade Su
preme Court dee ision, wh ich legal i zed abor
tion in the United States.
Kerry Hanigan, a University of Nebraska
Lincoln student, has been in the march every
year since it began in 1973. She said the
anniversary was important for college stu
dents.
“The number of kids that arc coming of
age to college have been bom during the
time of Roc vs. Wade,” Hanigan, a sopho
more secondary education major, said. “The
thing I always think of is, you look at all the
empty desks in classrooms. If women would
have had their babies all those desks could
have been filled.”
Hanigan said it was difficult to know how
students fell about the abortion issue.
See WALK on 6
Student lobbyists plunge into flood of Legislative bills
** Scott Maurer/DN
GLC members
keep watch out
for budget cuts
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Reporter
Issues affecting the University
of Nebraska may appear buried
in the heap of the 830 bills
introduced at the Legislature, but three
UNL students are working their way
through that pile.
Members of the Government Liai
son Committee arc speaking out at the
Slate Capitol on behalf of UNL stu
dents.
“Yougcialotof students involved,
so the Legislature gets the idea that
university students play a viable force
in what’s going on at the Capitol,”
student lobbyist Robb Douglas said.
In another light budget year, the
student lobbyists arc watching the
budget and hoping no additional cuts
will be made to the university.
In Gov. Ben Nelson’sstatc-of-lhc
statc and budget address Jan. 14, no
additional cuts were proposed for the
university.
But GLC member Chris Peterson
said the address did not mean UNL
would be spared.
Douglas agreed.
“It’s far from over,” he said. “The
senators weren ’t loo happy with Gov.
Nelson’s proposals.”
“We certainly don’t advocate cuts
for the university, but education seems
to be getting squeezed,” Douglas said.
“We feel the university has gotten cut
its fare share in the long run.”
Douglas said the appropriations
committee and the entire Legislature
had a difficult job ahead.
“I don’t envy their position at all,”
he said. “People like us arc selling the
value of everything out there. They
will look at the budget very care
fully.”
GLC members arc keeping track
of 14 bills that they feel most affect
the university:
• LR3CA is a constitutional
amendment to change NU Board of
Regent terms from six years to four.
The bill was introduced by Sen. Ron
Withem of Papillion. The GLC is
taking a neutral stance on the pro
posed amendment.
• LB27 would require the univer
sity to have legislative consent before
acquiring real property, introduced
by Sens. Dan Lynch and John Lindsay
of Omaha and Withem.
The bill came about after the uni
versity purchased land for a park near
See GLC on 2