Sen. Pete Ricketts was in North Platte Friday morning to promote a petition drive called “Protect Women and Children.”
Ricketts said it is important to give Nebraskans a choice between the state law that was passed by the legislature in 2023, and a petition drive to replace that law, which he said is led by individuals from the East Coast.
Ricketts said the effort to uphold the existing law needs 125,000 signatures by Wednesday, July 3 to qualify for the ballot.
In May 2023, the legislature passed a ban on abortions after 12 weeks of conception, with exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.
Abortion advocates are promoting the a petition drive called “Protect Our Rights,” which aims to enshrine abortion rights in the Nebraska Constitution.
Abortion advocates propose a constitutional amendment that would read: “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 subdivisions.”
The proposal says, “Fetal viability means 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’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.”
Ricketts said that Nebraska has a strong history of supporting pro-life initiatives and has been at the forefront of enacting pro-life laws. Nebraska was the first state to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which banned all abortions after 20 weeks, except in cases of rape, incest, or when necessary to save the life of the mother.
During Ricketts’ tenure as governor, he oversaw the end of dismemberment abortion in Nebraska. He is concerned that if the Protect Our Rights initiative is approved, it would reverse pro-life legislation that Nebraska enacted during the past 20-30 years. Ricketts also said that the abortion industry has successfully pushed for similar amendments in seven other states.
Ricketts is concerned that the broad language of the Protect Our Rights amendment would permit late-term abortions and weaken protections for women.
The Protect Our Rights initiative encompasses five main points. 1) the amendment removes parental and women’s rights by using the phrase “All persons,” which would allow minors under 18 to undergo an abortion without parental consent and permit men to litigate against women seeking abortions.
2) The amendment also leaves the term “health” undefined, potentially encompassing emotional, psychological, or familial well-being.
3) Critics worry that the amendment could compromise existing safeguards against unsafe abortion practices, citing the example of Michigan, which repealed informed consent laws and state licensing and inspection of abortion facilities.
4) the amendment enables abortion practitioners to determine fetal viability.
5) It also affects the time frame of legal abortion, allowing abortion in cases where a baby would require “extraordinary medical measures” to survive, such as a ventilator or respirator after the child is born.
In order for the Protect Women and Children initiative to be included on the ballot, Ricketts said they need to gather 125,000 signatures, representing at least 5% of the population from 38 counties.
He said that they have met that qualifications in 38 counties and are on track to obtain the required 125,000 valid signatures.
Ricketts emphasized that each signature is crucial for upholding our state law. For more information, see ProtectWomenChildren.com.
© 2024 The North Platte Bulletin. All rights reserved.
= No current warnings. Any past warnings have expired.
= Minor offense. Post was edited where neccessary. Yellow flags fly for 7 days.
= A more serious offense. This user can't post to Talk Back for 7 days. The offending post has been permanently blacked out. Red flags fly for 7 days.
= The most serious offense. This flag is reserved for those with multiple or particularly agregious offenses. Last step before permanent banishment. Black flags fly for 30 days.
= Banned.
“Ricketts said that Nebraska has a strong history of supporting pro-life initiatives and has been at the forefront of enacting pro-life laws. Nebraska was the first state to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which banned all abortions after 20 weeks”
If Pete was fighting for the rights of the unborn there would be no 20 week time period exception. I find it appalling that so many “pro-lifers” are caving and changing their stance on how to permit abortion. They are letting politics dictate their beliefs When their beliefs should dictate their politics.
I thought it was a win for the unborn when Trump got rid of Roe V Wade. Now he is no longer fighting and wanting to give the states the power to murder the innocent.
I wish republicans would work as hard on reducing taxes as they do regulating women’s bodies.
The religious right threw a tantrum when the government suggest vaccine mandates, some of them even using the phrase “my body, my choice” which co.ea from the pro choice movement. I guess that only applies to them…
No, it doesn’t only apply to “them.” Feminists have used “My Body, My Choice” as a pro-choice catchphrase for decades, but you are right that people protesting the vaccine and mask mandates during COVID-19 also invoked those same words. However, there was (and is) a huge difference in outcomes of those two bodily autonomy choices. Statistically speaking, a woman exercising her right to abortion had more than a 99 percent chance of killing another human being, while a woman excercising her right not to wear a mask during the COVID pandemic had less than a 1 percent chance of killing another human being, even if she was infected with the virus at the height of the pandemic.