A constitutional amendment that essentially codifies Nebraska’s current abortion restrictions went into effect on Thursday.
Gov. Jim Pillen (R) officially signed the ballot measure restricting abortion after 12-weeks with some exceptions, which passed in November with 54.9 percent support, the Nebraska Examiner reported. Nebraska is the first state to enshrine abortion restrictions into its constitution since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to the report.
Nebraska had two dueling abortion measures on the ballot: one that would have enshrined throughout pregnancy with some exceptions into the state constitution, and one that essentially enshrines the current 12-week restriction, while allowing for lawmakers to change the law in the future.
Voters ultimately chose to enshrine the current restriction with Initiative 434 and rejected the more radical abortion measure, called Initiative 439.
Initiative 434 enshrines the state’s current 12-week restriction into the state constitution and contains exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill in May 2023 that restricts abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and outlaws “gender-affirming care” for minors. Before the 12-week limit was in effect, Nebraska limited abortions to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The ballot measure reads:
Except when a woman seeks an abortion necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest, unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters.
Nebraska Family Alliance, which supported the measure, noted that the amendment “establishes a floor of protection, not a ceiling, meaning preborn children must, at a minimum, be protected by the second trimester, and stronger pro-life laws could still be passed going forward.”
The other proposed amendment would have allowed abortions until fetal viability, which is around 24 weeks of pregnancy, and then throughout pregnancy under some exceptions. The coalition behind the measure is called the Protect Our Rights campaign, and is endorsed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska.
The measure would have amended the state constitution to read:
All persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivisions. Fetal viability means the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient’s treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’ sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.
Overall, voters in ten states were asked this election cycle if they want to enshrine the right to abortion into their state constitution.
Out of ten states, seven states decided to vote in favor of pro-abortion measures, while three states rejected them in Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The losses broke the pro-abortion lobby’s winning streak, which began in the 2022 midterms following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The pro-abortion wins set a new challenge for the pro-life movement, which will continue working to change how the culture views life in the womb.
Every other pro-abortion-related ballot measure since the fall of Roe has been successful. During the 2022 special elections, Kansans rejected a ballot measure that would have established that the state Constitution does not include a right to abortion. During the 2022 midterms, voters in California, Michigan, and Vermont codified abortion into their Constitutions. At the same time, voters in Montana rejected a ballot measure that would have given rights to babies born alive in botched abortions. Voters in Kentucky also rejected an amendment similar to the one in Kansas. Last November, Ohioans also voted to codify the supposed right to abortion in their state Constitution via Issue 1.
Ballot measures are particularly effective as an offensive weapon because they are basically irreversible — they change a state constitution, take precedence over laws passed by state legislatures, and can only be overturned by another ballot measure or lengthy legal battles. The abortion measures are typically propped up by left-wing organizations and affiliates with deep pockets — such as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU — out-of-state dark money groups, and leftist billionaires, oftentimes outspending pro-life organizations by double or triple.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.