The Supreme Court of Nebraska issued a decision on this on Friday controversial constitutional amendments may emerge in the state election this fall.
one voting measuresThe bill, known as Protect the Right to Abortion, would amend the state Constitution to state that “all persons have the fundamental right to an abortion until the viability of the fetus or when necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
Another, called “Protect Women and Children,” would ban second- and third-trimester abortions except in medical emergencies or when the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or consanguinity.
Nebraska law prohibits abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy except for rape, consanguinity, and to save the life of the mother. An abortion rights measure would effectively repeal that law, while another would essentially codify it in the state Constitution.
Opponents of abortion rights have argued in a pair of lawsuits that the amendment to expand abortion rights violates a state rule that says a ballot proposal must address only one issue.
The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that the measure does not violate the single-subject rule.
Nebraska’s secretary of state will host hearings on the two ballot measures as well as four other unrelated measures in October.
Matt Heffron, general counsel at a firm that did not allow the abortion rights initiative to remain on the ballot, condemned the high court’s decision.
“We are deeply troubled that the Nebraska Supreme Court allowed this deliberately deceptive initiative to go before Nebraskans for a confusing vote,” said Heffron, who works at the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, an organization that supports the anti-abortion rights position.
The Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union noted the court’s decision. Type in X Nebraskans will be able to “vote to end our current ban, make sure Nebraskans can get the care they need, and ensure that decisions about pregnancy and abortion are in the hands of patients, not politicians.”
Nebraska is one of 10 states to introduce constitutional amendments protecting or expanding abortion rights. is set to appear on the ballot this fall. Many of these states are conservative, including Montana, South Dakota, Missouri, and Florida. Colorado, New York, and Maryland are liberal-leaning states with abortion ballot measures. Arizona and Nevada, two key battleground states in the presidential election, also have abortion initiatives.
Abortion rights advocates are consistent won victories when such initiatives are put on the ballot, even in red-leaning states like Ohio, Kansas and Kentucky.
Ohio voters added the fee last year access to abortion care to the Constitution of the state. in 2022 Voters of Kentucky He rejected a ballot proposal that would have changed the state Constitution to say it does not protect abortion rights. that year, Kansas voters voted against a proposed amendment that would have repealed language guaranteeing abortion rights in the state.