The bench of the Nebraska Supreme Court at the Capitol in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — Nebraskans preparing to vote this fall on competing proposals to amend the State Constitution to add abortion rights or abortion restrictions should press pause.
Whether they get to vote on either ballot initiative hinges on what the Nebraska Supreme Court decides after oral arguments Monday on three lawsuits aimed at stopping one or both of the proposals.
Two of the three lawsuits target the abortion-rights amendment. Abortion-rights advocates filed the third to ask the court to either allow both proposals on the ballot or neither.
Single-subject fight
Much of the fight centers on interpretations of Nebraska’s constitutional single subject rule, which prohibits ballot initiatives from addressing more than one topic in a single vote.
Time is short. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, targeted by all three lawsuits for certifying the measures as legal to proceed, must certify the November ballot by Sept. 13.