Abortion And Pro-Life Constitutional Amendments Duel In Nebraska
In November, Nebraska voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on abortion policies through a ballot measure. Recent developments have positioned Nebraska as the only state with a clear option to potentially reject extreme abortion practices that allow abortion until birth. This follows the certification of conflicting pro-abortion and pro-life measures.
The pro-abortion measure, led by a coalition including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, aims to dismantle Nebraska’s current 12-week abortion limit by granting a constitutional right to abortion, purportedly up to fetal viability. However, the definition of “viability” would be subjectively determined by healthcare providers, raising concerns that it could enable abortions at any stage under vague health claims.
If successful, this amendment could remove important protections, similar to those seen in states with established constitutional amendments on abortion. Nevertheless, proponents of pro-life policies in Nebraska believe that voters can be motivated to oppose this measure and uphold existing protections against late-term abortions. The outcome of this vote will be critical in determining the future of abortion rights in the state.
Democrats have successfully forced extremist abortion policies onto the November ballot in 10 states. Only voters in Nebraska, however, will have the clear-cut chance to reject unpopular abortion until birth in favor of enshrining popular limits to ending life in the womb in the Cornhusker constitution, thanks to the recent certification of dueling pro-abortion and pro-life ballot measures.
Nebraskans certainly face an uphill battle against a Planned Parenthood and American Civil Liberties Union-led coalition that hopes to kill the state’s current 12-week abortion limit with a constitutional amendment that would “provide all persons the fundamental right to abortion without interference from the state.”
The ballot text claims this “right” is only permitted “until fetal viability.” Still, it leaves the interpretation of “viability” up to the subjective judgment of a health-care practitioner, who can continue ending life in the womb at any point if he claims the baby will not live or the mother’s undefined “health” is at risk.
The amendment, if passed, would no doubt give abortion giants like Planned Parenthood a free pass to execute life in the womb at any point in pregnancy without any fear of state retribution. Lawsuits in states that have enacted similar constitutional amendments such as Ohio suggest that the text could easily be construed to rid Nebraska of safeguards such as requiring parental consent for minor girls seeking abortions.
All hope to stop those desperately trying to transform the Republican-controlled state from a pro-life safe haven to an abortion-for-all hellscape, however, is not lost.
Nebraska voters at risk of being duped by deceptive and euphemistic calls for “reproductive rights” have an alternative to the amendment allowing through all nine months of pregnancy, in the Protect Women and Children ballot measure. Also certified last week, this proposed constitutional amendment would ensure women and unborn children “shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters” except in the cases of “medical emergency,” “sexual assault,” or “incest.”
Approximately 55 percent of Americans think ending life in the womb beyond the start of the second trimester, around 14 weeks gestation, should be “generally illegal.” In Nebraska specifically, 72 percent of voters oppose legalizing abortion through birth.
The pro-life amendment proposal, which mirrors current Cornhusker abortion law, is far more palatable to voters than the Democrat-endorsed plan for unlimited abortion. In fact, a super-majority of Nebraska voters, 65 percent, say they would prefer the passage of a far more stringent policy that bars abortion beyond the detection of an unborn baby’s heartbeat, as early as six weeks gestation.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
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