Abortion in Nebraska is legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy, after new legislation was signed in May 2023.[1][lower-alpha 1] In June 2023, a lawsuit was filed to challenge the state's abortion law. The legislation establishing the law contained provisions concerning both abortion and gender-affirming care, while the state constitution prohibits bills that legislate on multiple issues at once.[7]

In a 2014 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, 50% of Nebraskan adults said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases while 46% said abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.[8]

The number of abortion clinics in Nebraska has fluctuated over the years, with eight in 1982, nine in 1992 and three in 2014.  There were 2,270 legal abortions in 2014, and 2,004 in 2015.

History

Legislative history

Nebraska was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement.[9] Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota and Ohio all had statues in 2007 that required specific informed consent on abortion but also, by statue, allowed medical doctors performing abortions to disassociate themselves with the anti-abortion materials they were required to provide to their female patients.[10][11]

In 2010, Nebraska became the first state to use the disputed notion of fetal pain as a rationale to ban abortion after 20 weeks.[12] In 2013, state Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law applied to medication induced abortions and private doctor offices in addition to abortion clinics.[13]

In April 2022, LB933, the Nebraska Human Life Protection Act, failed 31–15, falling two votes short of the 33 votes needed to end a filibuster. If enacted, the trigger law would have outlawed abortion from conception with no exceptions, and only an affirmative defense in case of medical emergency.[14]

In April 2023, LB626, the Nebraska Heartbeat Act, failed 32–15, falling one vote short of the 33 votes needed to end a filibuster. If enacted, the bill would have outlawed abortion at six weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergency.[15]

Judicial history

The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.[16] (However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) later in 2022.[17][18]) Stenberg v. Carhart  was before the US Supreme Court in June 2000.[19] The ruling meant the state's  "partial-birth abortion" was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court as it did not consider the life of the mother. 29 other states were impacted by this ruling.[20] LeRoy Carhart, a Nebraska physician who specialized in late-term abortions, brought suit against Don Stenberg, the Attorney General of Nebraska, seeking declaratory judgment that a state law banning certain forms of abortion was unconstitutional, based on the undue burden test mentioned by a dissenting opinion in City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health[21] and by the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.[22] Both a federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Carhart before the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.[23] The Nebraska statute prohibited "partial birth abortion", which it defined as any abortion in which the physician "partially delivers vaginally a living unborn child before killing the unborn child and completing the delivery."[24]

Clinic history

Number of abortion clinics in Nebraska by year

Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state increased by one, going from eight in 1982 to nine in 1992.[25] In 2014, there were three abortion clinics in the state.[26] That year, 97% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 41% of women in the state aged 15 – 44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.[27] In 2017, there were two Planned Parenthood clinics in a state with a population of 420,419 women aged 15 – 49 of which two offered abortion services.[28]

Statistics

In the period between 1972 and 1974, there were no recorded illegal abortion death in the state.[29] In 1990, 175,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy.[25] Public opinion on abortion is divided. In 2014, 50% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal while 46% believed it should be illegal in all or most cases.[8] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.[30]

Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of residence and occurrence and by percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates
LocationResidenceOccurrence % obtained by

out-of-state residents

 YearRef
No.Rate^Ratio^^No.Rate^Ratio^^
Nebraska2,0985.8782,2706.28512.12014[31]
Nebraska1,8935.2712,0045.57511.42015[32]
Nebraska 1,784 4.8 67 1,907 5.2 72 11.3 2016 [33]
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births


Abortion rights views and activities

Protests

Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. At a protest at the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln, more than 350 people participated. Former state Sen. Brenda Council was among those taking part.[34]

Anti-abortion views and activities

Activities

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz excommunicated Catholics in his jurisdiction who were associated with Catholics for Choice in 1996,[35] and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in 2000 that "[CFC] is not a Catholic organization, does not speak for the Catholic Church, and in fact promotes positions contrary to the teaching of the Church as articulated by the Holy See and the USCCB."[36]

In 2004, Bruskewitz stated that he would deny the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who support abortion, including 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry.[37][38]

Violence

In 1977, there were four arson attacks on abortion clinics.  These took place in Minnesota, Vermont, Nebraska and Ohio.  Combined, they caused over US$1.1 million in damage.[39]

On August 29, 2009, two days after a nearby anti-abortion protest, an unknown arsonist threw a Molotov cocktail at a Planned Parenthood in Lincoln, Nebraska. The bomb fell short of the building, leaving no property damage or casualties.[40]

Sanctuary cities for the unborn

Eight cities in Nebraska have outlawed abortion within their city boundaries and declared themselves "sanctuary cities for the unborn."[5] The village of Hayes Center, Nebraska, became the first city in Nebraska to outlaw abortion by local ordinance on April 6, 2021.[2] The Hayes Center ordinance declares abortion to be "a murderous act of violence that purposefully and knowingly terminates a human life," and it outlaws abortion "at all times and at all stages of pregnancy."[2] The only exception is for abortions performed "in response to a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy" that "places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed."[2]

The city of Blue Hill, Nebraska, followed suit and enacted a similar ordinance outlawing abortion on April 13, 2021.[3]

The village of Stapleton, Nebraska, enacted an ordinance outlawing abortion on August 8, 2022.[4]

On November 8, 2022 citizens in five villages in Western Nebraska (Arnold, Paxton, Brady, Hershey, and Wallace) saw local abortion bans pass in each one of their communities.[6]

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (R) has praised the cities for their actions to outlaw abortion, issuing a statement that: "Nebraska is a pro-life state, and communities are working to recognize and protect innocent life in a variety of ways. The Biden-Harris Administration is pushing a radical, pro-abortion agenda, and Nebraska must do everything we can to stand against the abortion lobby."[3]

Potentially unconstitutional

In June 2023, a lawsuit was filed because potentially it could be unconstitutional - because it violated the "one subject per rule by the Legislature". The bill now an Act enacted by the Governor with an emergency clause, causing a law to go into immediate effect has two subjects - namely abortion and gender-affirming healthcare.[41]

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 3 4 Standiford, Melanie (7 April 2021). "Hayes Center is first Nebraska town to make abortion illegal and punishable by law". www.1011now.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Blue Hill is second Nebraska town to outlaw abortion in city limits". www.1011now.com. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Stapleton bans abortion, Curtis sends abortion ban to November ballot". MSN. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  5. 1 2 Shatara, Jay (16 April 2021). "Two Nebraska towns outlaw abortion". nebraska.tv. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Abortion ban fails in small Nebraska town; others pass, some narrowly". Nebraska Public Media. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  7. ↑
  8. 1 2 "Views About Abortion Among Adults in Nebraska". 30 May 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  9. ↑ "State Policy On Informed Consent for Abortion" (PDF). Guttmacher Policy Review. Fall 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  10. ↑ "State Abortion Counseling Policies and the Fundamental Principles of Informed Consent". Guttmacher Institute. 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  11. ↑ Times, The New York. "Abortion Restrictions in States". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  12. ↑ Davey, Monica (2010-04-13). "Nebraska Law Sets Limits on Abortion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  13. ↑ "TRAP Laws Gain Political Traction While Abortion Clinics—and the Women They Serve—Pay the Price". Guttmacher Institute. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  14. ↑ Schulte, Grant (April 7, 2022). "Abortion rights backers block 'trigger' law in Nebraska". AP News. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ Beck, Margery (April 27, 2023). "Nebraska 6-week abortion ban fails to advance in Legislature". AP News. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ Buell, Samuel (1991-01-01). "Criminal Abortion Revisited". New York University Law Review. 66 (6): 1774–1831. PMID 11652642.
  17. ↑ de Vogue, Arinne (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade". CNN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  18. ↑ Howe, Amy (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion". SCOTUSblog. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Timeline of Important Reproductive Freedom Cases Decided by the Supreme Court". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  20. ↑ Larson, Jordan. "Timeline: The 200-Year Fight for Abortion Access". The Cut. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  21. ↑ Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983).
  22. ↑ Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).
  23. ↑ Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914, 922-23 (2000)
  24. ↑ Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914, 922 (2000)
  25. 1 2 Arndorfer, Elizabeth; Michael, Jodi; Moskowitz, Laura; Grant, Juli A.; Siebel, Liza (December 1998). A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights. Diane Publishing. ISBN 9780788174810.
  26. ↑ Gould, Rebecca Harrington, Skye. "The number of abortion clinics in the US has plunged in the last decade — here's how many are in each state". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-05-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ Panetta, Grace; lee, Samantha (2018-08-04). "This is what could happen if Roe v. Wade fell". Business Insider (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  28. ↑ "Here's Where Women Have Less Access to Planned Parenthood". Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  29. ↑ Cates, Willard; Rochat, Roger (March 1976). "Illegal Abortions in the United States: 1972–1974". Family Planning Perspectives. 8 (2): 86–92. doi:10.2307/2133995. JSTOR 2133995. PMID 1269687.
  30. ↑ "States pushing abortion bans have highest infant mortality rates". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  31. ↑ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2017). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2014". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 66 (24): 1–48. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6624a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 29166366.
  32. ↑ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2018). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2015". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 67 (13): 1–45. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6713a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 30462632.
  33. ↑ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2019). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2016". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 68 (11): 1–41. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6811a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 31774741.
  34. ↑ Bacon, John. "Abortion rights supporters' voices thunder at #StopTheBans rallies across the nation". USA Today. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  35. ↑ Extra-synodal Legislation: Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz at ewtn.com. March 19, 1996. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
  36. ↑ NCCB/USCC President Issues Statement on Catholics for a Free Choice Archived 2011-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  37. ↑ Faith in the Spotlight Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, National Catholic Register
  38. ↑ Paulson, Michael (2004-04-11). "A debate simmers over Kerry and the Eucharist". Boston.com. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  39. ↑ Jacobson, Mireille; Royer, Heather (December 2010). "Aftershocks: The Impact of Clinic Violence on Abortion Services". American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 3: 189–223. doi:10.1257/app.3.1.189.
  40. ↑ "LPD: Planned Parenthood Targeted By A Molotov Cocktail". 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009.
  41. ↑
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.