A coalition of left-wing groups officially launched its effort on Wednesday to enshrine the supposed “right” to abortion in the Nebraska constitution on the heels of a pro-life loss in Ohio on November 7.
Protect Our Rights, a coalition endorsed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, must collect roughly 125,000 valid signatures by summer 2024 for the amendment to appear on the 2024 ballot. The proposed amendment would declare a fundamental “right” to abortion until “fetal viability” — which is generally considered to be between 22 and 24 weeks gestation — or to protect the life or health of the pregnant woman. Under the petition language, a patient’s healthcare practitioner would determine fetal viability.
Pro-life organizations are already coming out against the campaign, warning the measure could open the door for gruesome third-trimester abortions and curtail parental rights.
Nebraska Right to Life Executive Director Sandy Danek alleged in a statement:
Nebraska’s law currently allows abortion throughout the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but that isn’t enough for the abortion industry and activists who are trying to write second- and third-trimester abortions into our constitution. This amendment would allow for abortion until the moment of birth.
“This ballot measure is not pro-choice, it’s pro-abortion, and it does not reflect the values of Nebraskans,” she added.
Adam Schwend, western regional director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said that those behind the ballot measure are already “parroting the lies told by pro-abortion activists in Ohio by saying women are dying without this amendment.”
“Their claim that Nebraska does not have an adequate life of the mother provision is completely dishonest,” Schwend continued. “The confusion they’re sowing does not just deceive voters but endangers pregnant women in Nebraska who need to know that state law unequivocally allows for them to receive emergency care.”
Paige Brown, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Catholic Conference, noted that at the state’s current limit of 12 weeks, “a baby’s major organs have formed and his or her heart has beat over 10 million times”:
You can find out whether the baby is a boy or girl by 12 weeks, start to see if they resemble mom or dad, and you’ll see the baby suck their thumb on an ultrasound. The lie Planned Parenthood is selling that it is in a mother’s best interest to end her baby’s life at 12 weeks and beyond is appalling and goes against the science which shows women are increasingly at risk for complications with abortions beyond the first trimester.
Karen Bowling, executive director of Nebraska Family Alliance, alleged that under the “extreme amendment, a girl who is not old enough to get her ears pierced or get a tattoo on her own will be able to obtain an abortion without a parent ever knowing.”
“This evisceration of parental rights is something that will concern every mom and dad in Nebraska. Women and children deserve real compassionate care, not lies from the abortion industry,” Bowling continued.
After the fall of Roe, which had invented a federal “right” to abortion in the Constitution, abortion was returned to individual states and their elected representatives, changing the nature of the struggle between the pro-life movement and the abortion industry. Pro-abortion organizations and activists, backed by the affiliates of large left-wing organizations like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, have stealthily turned to ballot measures in the hopes of shoring up and even growing the abortion complex in the shift from federal to state power.
Pro-life activists celebrate in response to the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
And so far, their plan is working — every single 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. On November 7, 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.
These measures are propped up by national left-wing organizations with deep pockets, out-of-state dark money groups, and billionaires with eugenicist leanings, oftentimes outspending pro-life organizations by double or triple.
Emboldened by their success with amendments, pro-abortion activists are seeking to introduce ballot measures in several other states going into 2024 besides Nebraska, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
In the aftermath of 2022 and Ohio, pro-life organizations say they are reevaluating how they want to tackle the issue moving forward — especially as they gear up to face a tsunami of ballot measures in 2024. These organizations, which cut their teeth for 50 years while working toward the overturn of Roe, are ultimately faced with the challenge of becoming as strategic and well-funded as their opponents while refusing to compromise on the view that human life begins at conception and is worthy of protection until natural death.
“The pro-life movement must adapt to win. We have to throw out the old playbook and dive headfirst into a strategy that can win the hearts and minds of the American people and translate into electoral victory,” founder and president of Live Action Lila Rose said in a statement via email following the loss in Ohio. “That strategy starts with fully embracing and educating on the truth. Human life is valuable and must be legally protected. Human life begins at fertilization. Abortion is a murderous act of violence. Embracing the truth with courage is the first step towards the next political victory.”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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