A Nebraska lawmaker faces backlash for invoking a colleague's name in a graphic account of rape

FILE - Neb. State Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings speaks during debate, Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in the Legislative Chamber in Lincoln, Neb. Halloran is facing calls to resign after reading a graphic account of rape from a best-selling memoir on the floor of the Legislature on Monday, March 18, 2024, in which he repeatedly invoked the name of a fellow lawmaker, making it appear as if that lawmaker was the subject of the assault.

Halloran's remarks drew an immediate emotional response from Machaela Cavanaugh, who was visibly shaking in the immediate aftermath of the Monday night session. That led Speaker of the Legislature Sen. John Arch to cut debate short and adjourn for the night. By Tuesday morning, video recordings of Halloran's speech had made the rounds on social media and a handful of protesters appeared outside Halloran's office before debate began Tuesday, calling for him to step down.

In 2020, Slama was the target of comments from then-Sen. Ernie Chambers, a Democrat, who implied she was appointed to her seat in exchange for sexual favors. In 2022, she was among several women — but the only one to come out publicly — to accuse then Nebraska Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster ofSlama said Tuesday it made no difference whether Halloran was invoking the name of Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh or her brother.

This isn't the first time Halloran has made offensive and confusing remarks while trying to make a point. Last session, he argued that the legalization of abortion in the U.S. had its roots not in choice for women, but in a plot to “kill off the Black race.” He also attempted to highlight an exemption for rape and incest in a bill last year to limit abortions to about six weeks by stating that “no one’s forcing anyone to be pregnant. Pregnancy’s a voluntary act between two consenting adults.

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