News & Commentary

A few months ago, I visited a family planning clinic in Lincoln and got to know some of my neighbors who use the Title X program. I met a single mom with three kids who works at an assisted living home and who does not have health insurance. She has been going to the clinic for three years and doesn’t know any other doctors she could go to if her clinic loses Title X funding. Title X was established in 1970 and is our nation's signature family planning program which provides grants to healthcare providers who provide well-woman exams, lifesaving cancer screening, STD testing and treatment, and contraception. The federal grants pass through the state budget and go directly to healthcare providers. Title X money cannot be used for abortion-related services or for abortion.

The last year was a relentless attack on civil rights and civil liberties emanating from the highest echelons of political power and emboldening state and local leaders to act in ways previously unimaginable.
Nevertheless, we persisted, we resisted, and we achieved important progress.

For more than five years, the female jail population has been the fastest growing correctional population in the United States. In Nebraska, the number of women in jail or prison is also on the rise. Yet jails and prisons often fail to address the unique needs of women in these facilities.

At the Unicameral, the ACLU of Nebraska has put together our strongest advocacy team to date to implement our diverse and wide ranging civil rights agenda. Our client is the Constitution and our work impacts our most cherished rights, fundamental freedoms, and the civil liberties of all Nebraskans. We are effective due to our hard work, policy and legal expertise, and the strong voices and unyielding activism of thousands of supporters.

This week, the Nebraska Legislature is considering legislation to help close the pay gap in Nebraska. Without this crucial legislation, Nebraska women would have to wait until 2066 for the pay gap to close.

This isn’t the setup for a bad joke. This is the law for a young woman in Nebraska.

In 1995, Ruby Scott was 15 years old and unexpectedly pregnant. She did what most young women do in that situation – she talked with her parents. Before the family had taken Ruby to a doctor, her boyfriend’s parents had the State of Nebraska remove Ruby from her home to prevent her from having an abortion.

By 2066, my daughter may be preparing for her own retirement. Unless Nebraska addresses our wage gap now, she’ll have to keep working into her sixties to ensure she has equal pay for equal work.

In each of my roles — a mother, a daughter, a former State Senator, a lawyer, and the current Executive Director of the ACLU of Nebraska — the belief that personal decisions about family size and quality of life should not be decided by the government has remained constant.