OMAHA, NEBRASKA—Anti-reproductive rights politicians today introduced a bill, LB781, that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, long before many people know they are pregnant.
The abortion ban bill comes immediately after Sen. Megan Hunt announced a push to expand abortion access in Nebraska. Sen. Hunt introduced two bills, one that repeals the private insurance ban on abortion coverage and another that allows Certified Nurse-Midwives, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, and physician assistants to provide abortion care. This in addition to LB276, her bill to repeal the telemedicine abortion ban.
“Every Nebraskan deserves the freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies and their future—including the decision of when, if or how to have a family,” said Andi Curry Grubb, State Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska. “The six-week ban being pushed by a narrow ideology does not reflect the majority of Nebraskans. We value privacy and bodily freedom, which is why Sen. Hunt is pushing to expand access to safe and legal abortion. Nebraskans will not sit idly by and will fight every restriction that gets in the way of people accessing the essential health care they need.”
The bills come during a time of national uncertainty around federal abortion protections. The U.S. Supreme Court in December heard arguments regarding a 15-week ban in Mississippi that directly challenges the protections established by Roe v. Wade almost 50 years ago and is expected to release a ruling this summer. The Court has also declined to intervene in a Texas six-week ban that places enforcement in the hands of private citizens.
If the Court erodes or eliminates the federal right to abortion, Nebraska’s 49 state senators would decide abortion access. Abortion in Nebraska is already highly restricted by laws that place burdensome, medically unnecessary requirements on patients and providers. The Guttmacher Institute categorizes the state as hostile to reproductive rights.
“A six-week ban on abortion does nothing to improve the lives of Nebraskans,” Curry Grubb said. “It will instead have a dramatic and disproportionate impact on marginalized communities that already face systemic barriers to health care, including people of color, those in rural areas, and people with low-incomes. Politicians need to stop inserting themselves between a person and their doctor. This legislation is a clear violation of a person’s right to decide for themself what is best.”
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska Action Fund, formerly PP Voters of Nebraska, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization. As the advocacy and electoral arm of PPNCS, we mobilize supporters of all parties to defend and increase access to family planning services and fact based, medically accurate sexuality education. We work to inspire and engage citizens to take up the cause of reproductive health and rights through education, electoral activity, grassroots organizing and legislative advocacy.
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