Doctors in Nebraska are requesting that the Secretary of State remove a pro-abortion initiative from the upcoming November ballot.
According to Nebraska Public Media, 30 doctors are arguing that the Right to Abortion ballot initiative allowing abortion until so-called fetal ‘viability’ is in violation of the state’s single-subject law. The measure would give women the false right to an abortion until a preborn child is considered able to survive outside the womb. However, the doctors say the measure redefines “fetal viability” to allow abortions beyond viability because of its “expansive, ambiguous, confusing, and misleading language.” The physicians also argue that the measure leaves the determination of the baby’s viability up to non-physicians, by using the broader term, “health practitioner.”
“Physicians are uniquely qualified to determine the medical definition of viability based on medical-school training, licensure, residencies, fellowships, board certifications, and experience,” said Dr. Catherine Brooks, a practicing neonatlogist leading the challenge to the ballot initiative. “The pro-abortion initiative requires no such training and opens the door to non-physicians, such as midwives, nurses, and doulas, to make viability determinations, which are outside the scope of their education, training, and experience. This is simply unsafe.”
The Right to Abortion initiative would amend Article 1 of the Nebraska Constitution to create a new section stating, “All persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient, without interference from the state or its political subdivision.” It defines fetal viability as “the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient’s treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’ sustained survival outside of the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.”
READ: Nebraska Supreme Court upholds law protecting preborn children after first trimester
The Nebraska Catholic Conference notes that the initiative removes parental rights, fails to define “health,” eliminates all protections for women, allows abortionists to decide viability, and creates a ‘right’ to even late-term abortion. By allowing abortion up until the arbitrary age of viability, but also after viability for the undefined health of the mother — which could therefore include mental health or financial health — the ballot measure allows abortion at any time for any reason.
In an emergency health situation that occurs after a preborn child has been declared viable, a preterm delivery or emergency C-section will protect the lives of both mother and child. A pregnancy can be ended without intentionally killing the child.
Nebraska voters will also see a second abortion-related initiative on the ballot in November. The ‘Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester’ Amendment would amend Article I of the Nebraska Constitution to add a new section to provide that “unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters” except in cases of medical emergencies or pregnancies resulting from sexual assault or incest.
Abortion is currently legal through 12 weeks in Nebraska.
