Emboldened by success in other red states, effort launched to protect abortion rights in Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An effort to enshrine abortion rights in the Nebraska Constitution is being launched, following on the heels of successful efforts in other reds states where Republicans had enacted or sought abortion restrictions.

Protect Our Rights, the coalition behind the effort, submitted proposed petition language to the Nebraska Secretary of State's office late last month.

That language was kept under wraps until Wednesday, when the state's top elections office released it. Organizers plan to hold a news conference Thursday to kick off the effort, in which they will need to collect around 125,000 valid signatures by next summer to get the measure on the ballot in 2024.

“We're confident in this effort, and we're energized,” said Ashlei Spivey, founder and executive director of I Be Black Girl, an Omaha-based reproductive rights group that makes up part of the coalition. Other members include Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska and the Women's Fund.

The proposed amendment would declare a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient. Under the petition language, the patient's health care practitioner would determine fetal viability.

The group relied, in part, on polling it says shows a majority of Nebraskans favoring abortion access, Spivey said. That's proving consistent in other states where voters have backed abortion rights — including in Ohio, where voters last week resoundingly approved an amendment to the state constitution to protect abortion access.

“Ohio was definitely a proof point for us,” Spivey said. “Ohio shows that voters are going to protect their rights.”

Now, advocates in at least a dozen states are looking to take abortion questions to...