ACLU-Nebraska: Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself

In Nebraska, most high school students receive some form of sex education in school.  Unfortunately, it appears many schools are only providing biased, unhelpful information to the teens in their care.  There are some programs that only teach abstinence as the solution, leaving out valuable information about the need to be educated about and protected from disease and unwanted pregnancy by offering information about other birth control methods.  Nationwide studies have shown "abstinence only" programs simply don't work.  In 2005, we began surveying Nebraska high schools to learn what programs are being taught to our state's children. The survey also provided educational information for school superintendents about the failures of "abstinence only" programming. The survey is being done in cooperation with the Pro-Choice Coalition of Nebraska with our partner, Planned Parenthood.

Community Conversation on sexually transmitted disease rates in Douglas County.  Why does Omaha have the highest chlamydia rate in the US?  Come get tested (free and confidential) by the Douglas County Health Department and learn more about this epidemic.  Share your thoughts on how policy makers need to respond to the STD problem.  This event is free and open to the public: Thursday November 19: 6 to 8 pm at the Red Cross, 80th and Center Streets, Omaha.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals is the federal court that controls Nebraska, and that court recently ruled that a woman's right to choose an abortion exists even when she's incarcerated.  This summer, ACLU Nebraska wrote a letter to the Nebraska Department of Corrections to ensure they were aware of the law, and we have written every single county jail to put them on notice too.  If you know a prisoner--whether she's serving a sentence or is a pre-trial detainee--make she sure knows she has the right to choose.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that abortions are "elective procedures" unless a doctor says it's medically necessary, and that means that the prison or jail can require the woman to pay for it.  The government doesn't have to pay for the medical care, but they do have to transport the woman to medical appointments.  Contact ACLU Nebraska if you have questions about this right.

The process is called a "judicial bypass," and it is only granted to young women who can prove to the court that they are emotionally mature enough to make this decision and that there are serious reason why they cannot tell their parents to get parental permission for the abortion.  Nebraska state law explicitly requires every courthouse to put the judicial bypass forms out where they can be easily found, without making an embarrassed teenager have to ask for help from anyone.  ACLU Nebraska surveyed Nebraska courthouses in the summer of 2005 and found only 1 county was obeying the law.  The rest simply did not have the forms on display...making yet another obstacle to young women's ability to exercise their reproductive right to choose.  ACLU intervention resulted in a letter going to every Clerk of the Court across the state, and our survey indicates the law is being followed now.