Pro-abortion activists in Nebraska looked to Taylor Swift fans last week to help them enshrine the supposed “right” to abortion in the state Constitution.
A left-wing coalition leading an abortion amendment effort in Nebraska, called Protect Our Rights, attended a Taylor Swift-themed party called Taylor Fest at The Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha on Feb. 16, WOWT reported. The coalition “was on scene passing around its petition for a ballot initiative to put abortion rights to a vote of the people in November 2024,” according to the report.
“There are a ton of people who support abortion rights across the state, and a ton of them are Taylor Swift fans,” said Sandy Griffin, data director for coalition member Nebraska Civic Engagement Table.
The strategy comes amid a debate about how influential mega pop star Taylor Swift may be in upcoming elections — most importantly the 2024 presidential election. President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign — which has made abortion a top priority — is reportedly hoping to secure her endorsement, likely to sway younger, female voters.
Outside of the political sphere, the mere presence of Swift at the Super Bowl delivered a record number of female viewers. Additionally, an analysis of the hoopla that Swift has brought to the NFL finds that she has brought the league $331 million in enhanced brand value thanks to all the publicity and social media chatter she has generated with her romance with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce.
Protect Our Rights is a coalition of several left-wing groups, including the Nebraska ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Nebraska Civic Engagement Table. The group submitted its proposed petition language to the Nebraska Secretary of State in October and made the petition available to sign in November. The coalition launched its effort on the heels of a pro-life loss in Ohio on November 7.
The petition states, “All persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability.” It defines fetal viability as, “the point in pregnancy when there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without extraordinary measures.” Fetal viability is generally considered to be between 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.
The effort comes in response to Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signing of a bill in May 2023 that restricts abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy. Before the 12-week limit was in effect, Nebraska limited abortions to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The coalition must collect roughly 125,000 valid signatures by July for the amendment to appear on the ballot in 2024.
Activists in at least nine other states are working to put abortion amendments on the ballot next year, after a string of state-level pro-abortion victories following the fall of Roe v. Wade — a 1973 Supreme Court decision which had, for 50 years, invented a “right” to abortion.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.