Paul Hammel
Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
LINCOLN — A group of Nebraska medical professionals is seeking to present a different abortion-related constitutional amendment — billed as a “better choice” — to voters in November: banning abortions after the first trimester.
The petition effort quickly received the backing of two Nebraska groups that oppose abortion rights, Nebraska Right to Life and the Nebraska Family Alliance. They billed the new petition as “a second, better choice,” that also includes exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies.
“Now, instead of the abortion industry’s extreme proposal, which grants the abortionist sole authority to determine fetal viability and allows minors to obtain an abortion without parental notification, voters may have a second option on their ballot,” said Karen Bowling of the Family Alliance in a press release.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America also announced its support, saying voters will have a “clear choice” come November on two abortion measures.
Paperwork filed March 1
The new “Protect Women and Children Constitutional Amendment,” based on paperwork filed March 1 with the Secretary of State’s Office, would ban abortions past the first trimester, or at about 13 weeks of pregnancy. A state law passed in 2023 prohibits most abortions after 12 weeks gestational age.
Current law allows exceptions for medical emergencies and pregnancies resulting from sexual assault or incest, as does the new petition.
“Unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters,” the filed petition language states.
The new effort would compete with an initiative petition drive launched last year to place a constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot. Backed by abortion rights groups, it would allow abortion up to the time when a fetus could be viable outside the womb, usually around 23 weeks.
Could lead to further restrictions
Jasmine Smith, of the sponsors of the Protect Our Rights campaign, said Tuesday that the new effort was launched by those who want to outlaw abortion “in all circumstances.”
“This new effort would enshrine Nebraska’s current harmful ban in our state constitution and leave the door open for far more restrictive bans,” Smith said.
The Protect Our Rights effort has the backing of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the ACLU of Nebraska, I Be Black Girl, Women’s Fund of Omaha and others.
Scout Richters, policy director for the ACLU of Nebraska, also said supporters would not stop at the first trimester and predicted the counter proposal could be part of a stated goal from lawmakers and Gov. Jim Pillen to further restrict or outlaw abortion.
Smith said Protect Our Rights is about stopping government overreach and protecting individual freedoms.
Richters said the ACLU has always supported the idea that decisions about pregnancy and abortions belong to patients, in consultation with their medical providers.
“This proposal really just simply flies in the face of that,” Richters said.
Jackie Ourada, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office, said the petition language for the new effort has not been finalized, although it has been reviewed by the Revisor of Statutes. Petitions cannot be circulated for signatures until sponsors file their final language and the Secretary of State’s Office prepares sample copies of the petition, Ourada said.
Organizers of any ballot initiative must gather signatures from at least 10% of Nebraska voters. The signatures must include 5% of registered voters in at least 38 of the state’s 93 counties. The deadline is July 3.
Protect Women and Children Initiative
Who is the “Protect Women and Children Initiative,” which is funding what is expected to be an expensive petition drive?
The organization did not return an email seeking more information, and Mark Patefield, who serves as a pharmacist in both Wayne and Laurel, told the Examiner on Tuesday afternoon that he was too busy to answer questions.
The Protect Women and Children Initiative had not yet filed organization papers with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission as of Tuesday. Filings with the commission can indicate who is funding such a campaign.
But the email launching the initiative says the four people named on the committee are listed as health professionals.
Patefield ran unsuccessfully for Nebraska Legislature in 2022, when he was endorsed by then-Gov. Pete Ricketts as well as Nebraska Right to Life.
Elizabeth Peterson is a registered nurse, as is Jan Kuehn, who is retired. Maureen Bausch, another retired RN, previously served as a chaplain at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Lincoln.
— By Nebraska Examiner senior reporter Paul Hammel