Ballot initiative in Nebraska would prohibit abortion after 12 weeks

CNA Staff, Mar 20, 2024 / 13:50 pm

A recently proposed pro-life ballot measure would make Nebraska the first state in the nation to offer unborn children protection in its constitution. 

State residents, meanwhile, may also be voting on a measure to enshrine broad abortion rights into the state’s constitution, with both proposals potentially appearing on the ballot in November.

The Protect Women and Children constitutional amendment, preliminary language of which was filed with the Nebraska secretary of state’s office March 1, would “amend the Nebraska Constitution” to ensure that “unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters.”

The amendment would outlaw abortion after 12 weeks except in medical emergencies or when an unborn child is the result of sexual assault or incest, the proposal says.  

Sponsors for the measure did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal on Wednesday. The pro-life Nebraska Family Alliance, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that if passed the measure would make Nebraska “the first state in the nation to provide constitutional protection to preborn children in a state constitution.”

The group said the proposal “would ensure that our existing pro-life laws remain in place while we continue working to create a culture of life that provides love and support to every mother and child.” The state last year banned abortion at 12 weeks into pregnancy.

Jackie Ourada, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska secretary of state’s office, confirmed to CNA on Wednesday that the measure had been received by the office but that “final language for the petition has not been submitted” yet. 

The group has until July 3 to collect signatures from 10% of the number of registered voters in the state before submitting. The state requires signatures to come from 5% of registered voters in at least 38 counties.

The pro-life proposal comes as pro-abortion advocates attempt to pass their own constitutional amendment in the state, one that would offer broad protections for abortion throughout most of pregnancy. 

The pro-abortion group Protect Our Rights filed language with the secretary of state last year that could see abortion on the ballot in November if petitioners can collect enough signatures. 

The measure, if approved, would “amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide all persons the fundamental right to abortion without interference from the state or its political subdivisions until fetal viability.”

Protect Our Rights is not publicly sharing the number of signatures it has obtained, but one abortion advocate told Nebraska Public Media this month that the campaign is “on track” to have enough signatures to qualify before the deadline. 

Voters in seven other states around the country, meanwhile — California, Vermont, Michigan, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, and Ohio — have voted in favor of abortion since the Supreme Court’s 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade, with residents either voting to expand abortion access or else voting down pro-life measures at the ballot box.