Nebraska Supreme Court votes on abortion measure
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s Supreme Court won’t stop state voters from becoming the first nationwide to weigh competing abortion-related initiatives on the same ballot since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 .
The court this week weighed in on the constitutional issues raised by three lawsuits: two seeking to block the abortion rights amendment and one arguing that both measures should be on the ballot or neither should pass.
In a unanimous 7-0 ruling, the justices found both measures consistent with the Nebraska Constitution’s requirement that ballot measures cover only one relevant legal topic.
Ashlei Spivey of the Protect Our Rights petition announced that her abortion rights organization has collected a record 207,000 signatures. (Aaron Sandford/Nebraska Examiner)
Courts generally apply the single-subject rule more strictly to ballot motions than to bills passed by the Legislature. Questions asked by the justices during Monday’s oral arguments suggested some were willing to embrace a broader view.
Lawyers for both amendments argue that their measures meet the single-subject test because they fit within a broader subject statement and because abortion-related laws cover similar changes.
Many of the arguments against an abortion rights amendment hinge on whether to create a new abortion right, and then defining when and clarifying who decides whether it counts as a single change.
Part of the legal argument against the abortion restriction amendment hinges on whether adding exceptions to the ban after the first trimester of pregnancy constitutes a second subject matter.
“We have followed and will continue to follow our proposed natural and necessary connection test as follows: The limitations of the proposed law are of a natural and necessary connection to each other and together form part of a general subject, and the proposal is single and not dual motion,” Judge Lindsey Miller-Lerman wrote for the court.
Might be the last hurdle
The court ruling could be the last legal hurdle for groups protecting our rights and protecting women and children to put forward dueling amendments on the November ballot.
Friday is Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evening’s deadline to complete fall ballots, a date set by federal law and requiring ballots to be sent by mail to Nebraskans who are in the military or deployed abroad. California Californians.
Protect Our Rights’ Abortion Rights Amendment would codify the right to abortion until “the fetus is viable” (as defined by the treating health care provider). It does not specify a specific number of weeks.
Supporters of the petition to protect women and children, including U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, pose with boxes containing signed petitions. July 3, 2024.
The current scientific standard for survival rate is around 22-24 weeks of pregnancy. The current abortion timing law, passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2023, prohibits abortion after 12 weeks of gestational age.
The Women and Children’s Abortion Restrictions Amendment Bill would ban most abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy. It does not specify how soon the Legislature can ban abortion. That would allow state senators to pass an outright ban in the future.
Both proposed amendments include exceptions: “for the life or health of the mother” in the abortion rights initiative and “for the life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest” in the restrictive amendment.
a defensive action
The lawsuit challenging the abortion rights amendment was filed by Carolyn LaGreca, a Douglas County woman who runs a shelter for pregnant women, and Dr. Katherine Brooks, a Lancaster County neonatologist.
The Nebraska Commission to Protect Women and Children said in a statement after the ruling: “In November, voters can choose to reject the extreme abortion rights amendment that invites the government to come between a woman and her doctor. … Nebraskans overwhelmingly support upholding health and safety standards and common-sense protections for women and children.
Brooks, a neonatologist who filed a lawsuit to prevent the abortion rights amendment from reaching the ballot, said she and others were disappointed with the court’s ruling. She reiterated her legal team’s view that the amendment too broadly expands who decides when a pregnancy is “feasible.”
“Nebraska women and medical professionals should not be subject to vague, unscientific standards while dangerously expanding the scope of abortion practice,” she said in a statement.
LaGreca attorney Matthew Heffron, who represents the socially conservative Thomas More Society, said the court should not allow the Protect Our Rights proposal to move forward, calling it “deliberately deceitful” and a Trojan horse.
“If passed, this would be a sea change, overturning nearly 50 years of abortion law in Nebraska,” he said.
Josh Livingston, an attorney representing doctors at Protect Our Rights, praised the court for upholding the power of ballot initiatives in the democratic process.
“Thanks to these 29 doctors and countless others, reproductive health care rights are preserved,” Livingston said. “This ensures that Nebraska voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard in November.”
“Anti-abortion politicians forced abortion bans into law and then coordinated with activists to launch desperate lawsuits to silence more than 200,000 Nebraskans,” Protect Our Rights campaign manager Ellie Berry said in a statement. .
“They know Nebraskans want to end harmful abortion bans and stop government overreach in personal and private health care decisions,” she said.
The lawsuit against the two amendments, representing 29 doctors, including Omaha-area fertility specialist Dr. Elizabeth Constance, was filed defensively asking the court to confirm whether the two ballot measures efficient.
That case was also dismissed 7-0.
So far, every state that has voted on abortion since Roe has supported abortion rights. But there are currently no two amendments offering different options, a strange phenomenon that has raised eyebrows among donors and the public across the country.
If two abortion-related ballot measures pass and are deemed to conflict with each other, the one with the most votes will become law.
During oral arguments Monday, several justices, including Chief Justice Mike Heavican and Justice Stephanie Stacy, challenged the streamlined certification process for the ballot measure, which was delayed filed a lawsuit against this year’s ballot measure.
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