Nebraska trying to combine restrictions on abortion and transgender medicine into one bill
Rachel Schilke
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The Nebraska legislature is set to pass a bill that combines a 12-week abortion ban paired with restrictions on some types of healthcare for transgender minors.
The hybrid bill, focusing on the legislative body’s most contentious issues, narrowly advanced out of committee on Tuesday by a single vote and will appear before the full legislature of 49 lawmakers on Friday.
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Conservatives in the officially nonpartisan legislature announced in early May they would amend the Let Them Grow Act, a transgender health bill, to add abortion restrictions after conservatives failed to pass a six-week abortion ban in late April. It was the second straight year the state lawmakers failed to tighten abortion laws in Nebraska.
A supermajority of 33 votes is needed on Friday to end debate, followed by a simple majority out of the 49 total lawmakers needed to pass the hybrid bill.
If it passes, it will go to Gov. Jim Pillen’s (R-NE) desk, and Pillen said he would sign it. The law will take effect immediately due to the emergency clause written in the bill.
If the bill does not pass, it will be shelved for the remainder of the session, which would be a significant blow to the Republicans on a national level as they look ahead to the 2024 election and weigh how voters are responding to their pushes to tighten abortion laws.
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Other conservative-led states are taking steps to restrict abortion as much as they can. Florida, North Dakota, and Georgia have the tightest abortion bans in the country.
The South Carolina House of Representatives passed a six-week abortion ban on Wednesday, ending the monthslong debates and voting processes. It will head to Gov. Henry McMaster’s (R-SC) desk next week, and he is likely to sign it.