On Tuesday, Republican representatives in the Nebraska Legislature garnered enough votes to wed an abortion ban after 12 weeks with a puritanical prohibition on gender-affirming care for adolescents. Because the state’s congress is unicameral, it will not have to go through a second slate of lawmakers before heading to the governor’s desk — though there will be a final vote before Gov. Jim Pillen (R) is expected to sign it into law.
Over the past three months, Democratic lawmakers in the state have attempted to disrupt the bill’s draconian restriction with a marathon-like filibuster led by NE State Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh (D-Omaha) and Megan Hunt (I-Omaha). Such efforts had squashed an even more stringent moratorium that would have cut off abortion access at six weeks.
As the process was finalized this week, Cavanaugh chastised supporters of the bill. “Women will die. Children are dying. It is your fault … If you vote for this, you will have buckets and buckets of blood on your hands,” she said on the floor of the legislature.
Hunt — who is unaffiliated but is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America — called the ban a “desperate attempt to institute an abortion ban that is unpopular, unnecessary, and unsafe.”
Hunt will also be directly impacted by the abolition of gender-affirming care within the state: She has a young son who is transgender.
Outside the capitol in Omaha, a massive protest of concerned parents, advocates and queer activists attempted to pressure at least one Republican to flip their vote and kill the bill. Cries of “shut it down” and “one vote to save our lives” echoed through the marble halls of the capitol, but they fell on deaf ears.
The Cornhusker State is looking to become the 15th state to have either outlawed or extremely limited abortion since the Supreme Court decision that overruled Roe v. Wade last summer. It would also join an expanding list of states to ban gender-affirming care for minors.