CNA staff, August 23, 2024 / 5:45 p.m.

As of Friday, Nebraska is the only U.S. state where voters will have to consider two conflicting ballot proposals on the topic of abortion in November.

One proposal would enshrine the state’s current pro-life laws in the Constitution, and the other would enshrine a constitutional “right” to abortion – a proposal that is also on the ballot in several other states.

The proposed “Protects Women and Children” amendment would amend the state constitution to ban abortions “in the second and third trimesters,” except in medical emergencies or when the baby is the result of rape or incest. Current Nebraska state law restricts abortions after about 12 weeks.

At the same time, the pro-abortion ballot bill would enshrine in the state constitution the “right” to an abortion until a viable pregnancy is possible, or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman.

Nebraska joins a group of nine other states that will put abortion policies to the people on Election Day, November 5.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced Friday that both bills had each collected more than 136,000 signatures, making them eligible for the ballot. However, the pro-abortion bill received signatures from 5% of registered voters in 47 counties, while the pro-life bill received signatures from 5% of registered voters in 86 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.

“As far as the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office knows, there have never been two conflicting petitions on the same ballot in Nebraska before,” Evnen said.

Because Nebraska’s measures are mutually exclusive and cannot both be included in the Constitution, the measure with the most “yes” votes will be added, Evnen continued. For a ballot measure to pass in Nebraska, more “yes” votes than “no” votes are required and at least 35% of the votes cast in that election must be in favor of the measure. The governor is responsible under state law for determining whether a conflict exists.

The Nebraska Catholic Conference, which advocates for state policy on behalf of the state’s bishops, has a webpage with resources on the proposed pro-abortion law, saying the law “uses vague, subtle language to deceive Nebraskans into allowing unrestricted abortion in our state constitution.”

The bishops called the amendment protecting women and children an “imperfect alternative to the inherently evil abortion referendum” and encouraged voters to view the proposal as “an incremental step toward comprehensive protection of all human life from abortion, not a permanent compromise.”

Voters could support the proposal, but must “understand that all abortion must be rejected and that direct abortion is not morally acceptable under any circumstances,” they stressed.

“Supporters must continue to advocate for the recognition of the right to life of all unborn children.”