LINCOLN, Neb. – A bill that would ban abortion entirely in Nebraska if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade failed to overcome a filibuster today on a 31 - 15 vote, falling short of the 33 votes the bill’s supporters needed. The vote was a victory for reproductive rights advocates and a defeat for state senators who had forced debate on the so-called trigger bill LB933 by pulling it out of committee last month.
With six days left in Nebraska’s legislative session, the proposed ban has no clear path to becoming law.
Scout Richters, legal and policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, released the following statement in response:
“The state senators who led the filibuster against this dangerous bill deserve credit for listening to Nebraskans. A clear majority of Nebraskans want abortion to stay safe and legal in our state and most of us understand that these decisions belong to patients and doctors, not politicians. Nebraskans must remain free to make the decisions that are best for their health, lives and families — and no one should ever be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will or to flee their state for essential care. It’s that simple.”
Today’s vote comes after opponents of the ban outnumbered supporters at the bill’s packed February hearing. March polling on the bill showed Nebraska voters opposed the abortion ban by a double-digit margin.
The ACLU of Nebraska opposes any interference by politicians in Nebraskans’ reproductive rights and supports efforts to repeal politically motivated and medically unnecessary state restrictions. The Guttmacher Institute, a national reproductive and sexual health research and policy organization, categorizes Nebraska’s laws as hostile to reproductive rights based on the significant current abortion restrictions already in the state.
Nebraska is far from the only state facing new efforts to limit or outright ban access to abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, legislators introduced more than 500 abortion restrictions in 41 states during the first three months of 2022.
