Nebraska passes abortion-restrictions amendment, bucking national trend

BELLEVUE, Nebraska — Nebraska voters faced a first-in-the-nation test Tuesday by voting on two competing constitutional amendments on abortion in the same election — and they appeared poised to buck the national trend by favoring abortion restrictions. 

Voters adopted Initiative 434, an abortion-restrictions amendment that bans most abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest. The measure also leaves the Legislature the authority to pass additional restrictions, up to a complete ban.

As of 2:20 a.m. Wednesday, it was passing 55%-45%. There were still at least 9,000 ballots to count in Douglas County, the state’s most populous. But the Associated Press concluded about 1 a.m. Wednesday that the measure would pass.

Jessica Flanagain, a political consultant for Protect Women and Children, said the win helps show the supporters of abortion restrictions that there is a way to push back against “what was a tsunami of pro-abortion constitutional amendments.” 

“It also is an opportunity in the states where these initiatives have already been lost to go back and revisit the issue with voters,” she said.

Organizers said the vote early Wednesday was too close to call on Initiative 439, an abortion-rights amendment that would add a right to abortion to the Nebraska Constitution until fetal viability, the timing of which would be defined by a treating health care practitioner.

It trailed 51%-49% as of 2:20 a.m. The AP called the race that hour, saying the measure had failed.

Allie Berry, the campaign Manager for Protect Our Rights, said in a statement that more than 400,000 Nebraskans had “voted for reproductive freedom and to protect their rights.”

She said the people and groups involved would continue to organize for reproductive rights.

“Politicians have made the ultimate power grab in Nebraska,” Berry said. “They launched and spent over $13 million on an aggressive misinformation campaign with one goal — to confuse voters into giving up their reproductive rights.”

Nebraska was among 10 states with abortion-related measures on the ballot Tuesday. Before this election, every state voting on abortion changes since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade had sided with abortion rights measures. 

National advocates on all sides of the issue have been watching Nebraska to see the result of anti-abortion groups’ novel approach of putting a competing option on the ballot. 

Republicans outnumber Democrats in Nebraska roughly 2 to 1, with about a quarter of the electorate registered as nonpartisans or as members of third parties. Party affiliation hasn’t always determined the outcome of abortion ballot measures. 

Voters in neighboring Kansas, another conservative state, voted to protect abortion rights two months after the Supreme Court eliminated a national right to an abortion.

Abortion-restriction advocates celebrated the win, saying they had helped a conservative, “pro-life” state overcome a well-funded national effort to broaden and cement abortion rights and eliminate state restrictions on the procedure, including a state law requiring parental notification.

Supporters of the abortion-restrictions amendment said voters simply concluded that Initiative 439, the abortion-rights amendment, went too far. They said it left too much room for midwives and doulas to decide viability, decisions they said were best left to doctors.

Sandy Danek, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, said her group was grateful for “people who worked tirelessly at the grassroots level to help educate the public on this issue so they could make an informed decision at the polls.”

“Nebraskans have spoken; they have voted in favor of the dignity of both mothers and the children in their wombs,” Danek said.

Some critics of Initiative 434 have said it muddied the waters by selling the abortion-restrictions amendment as a moderate alternative to the abortion-rights amendment.

Protect Women and Children and other supporters of Initiative 434 have acknowledged their measure was crafted to seem moderate while leaving legal room for additional restrictions.

“Today’s results in Nebraska are a direct result of the fearmongering and disinformation spread by anti-choice activists and candidates,” said Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska. “While we’re disappointed, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska is more motivated than ever to protect abortion access in our state.”

Abortion-rights advocates have argued that the abortion-restrictions amendment masked the risks to women of current and future abortion bans. They warned of consequences, including the need to travel out of state for reproductive care to avoid injury or death.

Some argued the Legislature would now pursue additional restrictions, up to a full ban. Many pointed to how close state senators came in 2023 to passing a ban after about six weeks into a pregnancy, falling a single vote short. 

Current Nebraska law prohibits most abortions after 12 weeks gestational age, with exceptions after that for the life of the mother or for rape or incest.

Local political observers expect Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, with advice from Attorney General Mike Hilgers, to quickly acknowledge the adoption of the abortion-restrictions amendment after the votes are certified. Pillen and Hilgers backed Initiative 434.

“Initiative 434 passed, enshrining pro-life protections in our Constitution that cannot be watered down by pro-abortion politicians,” Pillen said in a statement Wednesday. “Simultaneously, Nebraskans rejected Initiative 439 and its radical creation of a fundamental right to abortion. It is a great day for unborn babies in Nebraska.”