LINCOLN – Nebraskans will be allowed to vote on two competing ballot initiatives that would expand or limit abortion rights this November, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Friday.
One of the measures sponsored by Protect Our Rights, a coalition of pro-abortion rights, including the local Planned Parenthood affiliate, would establish a “fundamental right” to abortion up to fetal viability, typically 24 weeks, and to protect the mother’s life or health after that.
The other initiative, backed by a group of anti-abortion doctors, would ban abortion after the first trimester, with exceptions for medical emergencies, rape or incest – similar to the state’s existing 12-week abortion law.
Both challenges argued that the proposed amendments presented multiple issues, since they involved abortion rights under various circumstances, and risked confusing voters. But the state’s highest court ruled that both initiatives addressed a single subject and were clear.
“We determine that the Initiative seeks to create a constitutional right to abortion and has a singleness of subject, and we conclude that the Initiative does not violate the single subject rule,” wrote Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman of the court’s decision.