According to the AP, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) has appealed a judge’s ruling that upheld a pro-life Nebraska law protecting preborn children from abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The appeal was filed to the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska a week after a Lancaster County District Court judge rejected Planned Parenthood’s challenge to LB 574, or the ‘Let Them Grow Act,’ under the Nebraska Constitution’s single-subject rule, which states that “[n]o bill shall contain more than one subject.” LB 574 also protects minors from transgender interventions including so-called “gender reassignment surgery.” The law, however, does allow abortion after 12 weeks if the child was conceived in rape or incest or if the mother experiences a medical emergency (though induced abortion — intentionally killing the preborn children to delivery — is not medically necessary.)
A preborn child’s heart begins to beat 16-21 days following fertilization and her brain waves are detectable by six weeks. By 12 weeks, she can raise her hand to her mouth, her arms have reached their proportionate size, she has taste buds, and her thyroid is producing hormones.
LB 574 is a move in the right direction to protect preborn children, but according to Nebraska statistics, in 2022, 2,273 of the state’s 2,547 abortions (89%) took place within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This means if the law had been in place for 2022, it would not have protected nearly 90% of those preborn children from being legally killed by induced abortion.
In addition, about 76% of women undergoing abortions in Nebraska in 2022 listed either failure to use contraception or failure of contraception as their reason for having an abortion. The most common reason for the abortions was “No Contraception Used” with 1,663 (46%) of women stating they did not use contraception to try to avoid pregnancy. In addition, 268 women cited “Contraception Failure” as their reason for abortion and 442 women declined to give a reason.
Planned Parenthood said it will continue to commit abortions on women and girls up to the 12th week of pregnancy in Nebraska and will help other women seek abortions in states that fail to protect preborn children from abortion after 12 weeks.
