Republican Sen. Deb Fischer misleads voters about her anti-abortion record

Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer has long supported passing abortion bans with few or no exceptions. Now, facing a surprisingly competitive reelection race, she is telling voters that she does favor exceptions.

Fischer is seeking a third six-year Senate term. Her challenger, labor leader Dan Osborn, is running as an independent and opposes a national abortion ban.

In an Oct. 3 interview with KETV ABC 7 in Omaha, Fischer was asked whether there was an issue she wouldn’t compromise on. She said: “I think when you have such core values, like life — I am pro-life. I have supported exceptions for the life of the mother, for rape, for incest, but I am pro-life. I don’t hide from that. That’s very important, that’s one of those issues that you should be honest on.”

That answer is contradicted by her record, however.

In 2010, as a Nebraska state senator, Fischer co-sponsored and helped pass a law that banned abortion after 20 weeks’ gestation. While the legislative text included a narrow exception for medical emergencies, it did not include exceptions in cases of rape or incest cases.

In 2012, as she ran for the U.S. Senate, Fischer said on her campaign website: “I am proud to be pro-life and to have had a solid pro-life voting record during my seven years in the Nebraska Legislature. I will continue to support a culture of life by supporting pro-life policies in U.S. Senate.”

After winning the Senate election and taking office, in 2013 Fischer co-sponsored a fetal personhood bill that would have effectively banned all abortions nationwide, without exception. Had the bill become law, it would have granted full constitutional rights to embryos and fetuses from the moment of conception. 

In her 2018 reelection race, Fischer filled out a questionnaire from the Nebraska Right to Life Political Action Committee and told the group that abortion should be legal only “to prevent the death of the mother” and not in cases of incest, rape, or fetal anomaly. 

According to the group’s 2024 survey, she gave the same answer on this year’s candidate survey. Fischer lists the group’s endorsement on her current campaign website, along with those of National Right to Life and hundreds of “pro-life warriors for Fischer.”

“Fischer and her corporate backers have been lying about me, trying to distract from her radical stance on abortion,” Osborn told the Nebraska Independent in a statement. “Now she’s acting like she can’t get her position straight and trying to hide her extreme views. Make no mistake here, Senator Fischer will ban abortion if given a chance, and more women’s lives will be put at risk.”