Dear Nebraska Friends & Family
I wanted to make you aware of some possible state constitutional amendments about the issue of abortion. This is a moral issue that is dear to my heart and that I think is important for our state and our country.
Here is a description of three potential amendments taken from this article. https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/05/28/nebraska-abortion-initiative-with-the-most-votes-would-become-law-if-voters-pass-more-than-one/
"Three groups are circulating potential constitutional amendments on abortion for the November ballot. Each appears at odds with the others.
One initiative, put forward by Protect Our Rights Nebraska, would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution up until fetal viability, which most place between 22 and 24 weeks.
A second, put forward by Protect Women and Children, would prohibit most abortions after the first trimester, much like current law, but it would let the Legislature restrict abortion further in the future.
A third, put forward by Now Choose Life, would grant “personhood” under the law to embryos and fetuses in a mother’s womb, making the law treat them like a child who has been born."
The first of these is supported by pro-abortion lobby and has had a great deal of support, meaning that it already had enough votes to make it on the November ballot. While the amendment says abortion would be legal until the age of viability, which is a subjective time, it also gives doctors the right to make exceptions later in pregnancy based on a very board definition of "life or health" of the mother. In practice this language has been used to mean that a doctor and a woman could make exceptions for abortions through all 9 months of pregnancy.
The second is a middle of the road amendment by some pro-life groups meant to specifically counter the pro-abortion amendment that would allow abortion for all nine months of pregnancy. This pro-life amendment would constitutional restrict later term abortions and still allow for further laws to be passed that would restrict abortion even more.
This is the amendment I am supporting because it has the greatest practical chance of being passed and gaining more votes than the pro-abortion amendment. They need signatures for the petition to get it on the ballot, and Dacey Nelson is working on this effort as she works for Senator Ricketts. If you would like to sign (and I encourage you to do so) and do not have her contact info, please contact me.
The last amendment is the one that reflects my true understanding of the issue, namely that all human life from the moment of conception on is valuable and should be protected. This attempt is late to the game and because it would basically restrict all abortions will likely not pass at this time in our history. Now you can sign both pro-life petitions and I probably will, but I do not believe a total constitutional ban is likely to pass and may even cause the pro-abortion amendment to do better if it is the only other option.
Finally, I want to make a short defense of why the issue of abortion is so important to me, and why I believe it should be to you too. The main moral issue is the value of human life. Not just unborn life, but all humans. Why is your life important? Why do you have value? The prevailing view in the western world over that last century has come to be a secular one that says that humans are simply the result of random chance accidents and have not more or less value than other forms of life. Therefore our value is contingent on various factors such as quality of life or utility to society. This has lead to a devaluation of not just unborn life, and we see this idea playing out with the promotion of assisted suicide and euthanasia in many places now. Older people, handicap people, and even depressed people are being encouraged to end their lives in countries like Canada because the value of their life is being judged by its utility.
The previous understanding of the value of human life came from the Christian understanding of the inherent value of all human life, grounded in the concept that we are made in the image of God. Therefore, no matter the age, sex, skin color, ability level, or utility to society, a person has value because they are valuable to God who is the grounding for all morality. The founding of our country that began to extend individual rights, the abolitionist movement, the women's suffrage movement, and the Civil Rights movement were all grounded on the idea that inalienable rights are tied to our value given by God. Likewise, unborn humans are just that, human. They should be afforded the same basic rights as other humans because they have the same value. If your life has intrinsic value, then their life should as well. If we begin to make the value of their lives subjective, then it is only a matter of time before the value of every life is subjective.
If we don't defend those who cannot defend themselves, then we will find ourselves in the position of German Pastor Martin Niemöller who said after WW2 in 1946,
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
