Nebraska’s latest pro-life law has been under attack since the moment it was advanced by a super-majority of State Senators and signed into law by Governor Jim Pillen. But the attacks aren’t the end of the story, thank God! Recently, pro-life values have won again in Nebraska.
This last session, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB574 (introduced by Senator Kathleen Kauth of Omaha) which provides two critical protections for human dignity. The first protects children from the rise of transgender ideology. LB574 prevents children from being exposed to so-called “gender-affirming surgeries” which harm children by removing otherwise healthy body parts. It also significantly regulates access to puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones, which minors have had unfettered access to prior to this legislation. The second protection is for preborn babies, and ensures that babies are saved from abortion once they are 12 weeks gestational age.
While we, of course, want to see more significant protections for children and babies, LB574 is a significant step forward toward safeguarding human dignity and saving lives in Nebraska.
As usual, opponents of this effort immediately filed a lawsuit. They have been attempting to enjoin the law from going into effect and having it struck down based on the legal theory that the legislation violates the state’s “single-subject” rule which is intended to prevent unrelated legislative ideas from being part of one legislative bill.
Thankfully, opponents were unsuccessful at the district court level, where a judge in Lincoln ruled that LB574 did not violate the single subject rule. She stated that both protections for children and preborn babies were legally related to each other and could be part of the same piece of legislation. The judge also refused to put a “temporary injunction” on the law.
But the opponents did not stop there. They have now appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, asking for them to overturn the ruling of the district court.
Praise God, the Nebraska Supreme Court recently ruled that they would not temporarily enjoin the law from going into effect. This means LB574 remains in effect and will continue saving babies from abortion and, very soon, will protect children from the transgender craze which is seducing our teenagers.
The Nebraska Supreme Court will still hear arguments about the single subject issue and make a determination whether the district court’s ruling is correct. (We are confident the Nebraska Supreme Court will uphold the district court ruling.)
This is, thank God, another notch in the belt of pro-life victories that we have been building on for the last 5 years. Those victories have included passing laws to tell moms there is still hope with abortion pill reversal, banning dismemberment abortions, preventing taxpayer money going to organizations colluded with or a part of the abortion industry, and defeating countless efforts to make Nebraska a pro-abortion state.
These are the types of pro-life victories we want to celebrate with you at this year’s Bishops’ Pro-Life Banquet and Conference.
This year’s celebration is “The Truth Will Set You Free”. The event takes place in Lincoln on October 6-7. On Friday night at the banquet, we will come together in celebration and solidarity as a pro-life community to rejoice in the Lord’s pro-life blessings. We will hear from Catholic Answers apologist, Joe Heschmeyer, who is sure to inspire and educate our hearts and minds. On Saturday at the conference, there will be opportunities to network with pro-life leaders from across the state, find opportunities for involvement in the culture of life, and learn how the truth can shape our pro-life movement in Nebraska!
We really hope you can join us for either/both the pro-life banquet and/or conference. It’s a “you won’t want to miss it” type of event.
Visit www.NEcatholic.org to learn more and get registered! Registration will only be open one more week, so you better act now!
God bless your efforts and God bless the pro-life movement in Nebraska!
Commentary
Another Pro-Life Win to Celebrate!
September 15, 2023
Nebraska’s latest pro-life law has been under attack since the moment it was advanced by a super-majority of State Senators and signed into law by Governor Jim Pillen. But the attacks aren’t the end of the story, thank God! Recently, pro-life values have won again in Nebraska.
This last session, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB574 (introduced by Senator Kathleen Kauth of Omaha) which provides two critical protections for human dignity. The first protects children from the rise of transgender ideology. LB574 prevents children from being exposed to so-called “gender-affirming surgeries” which harm children by removing otherwise healthy body parts. It also significantly regulates access to puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones, which minors have had unfettered access to prior to this legislation. The second protection is for preborn babies, and ensures that babies are saved from abortion once they are 12 weeks gestational age.
While we, of course, want to see more significant protections for children and babies, LB574 is a significant step forward toward safeguarding human dignity and saving lives in Nebraska.
As usual, opponents of this effort immediately filed a lawsuit. They have been attempting to enjoin the law from going into effect and having it struck down based on the legal theory that the legislation violates the state’s “single-subject” rule which is intended to prevent unrelated legislative ideas from being part of one legislative bill.
Thankfully, opponents were unsuccessful at the district court level, where a judge in Lincoln ruled that LB574 did not violate the single subject rule. She stated that both protections for children and preborn babies were legally related to each other and could be part of the same piece of legislation. The judge also refused to put a “temporary injunction” on the law.
But the opponents did not stop there. They have now appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, asking for them to overturn the ruling of the district court.
Praise God, the Nebraska Supreme Court recently ruled that they would not temporarily enjoin the law from going into effect. This means LB574 remains in effect and will continue saving babies from abortion and, very soon, will protect children from the transgender craze which is seducing our teenagers.
The Nebraska Supreme Court will still hear arguments about the single subject issue and make a determination whether the district court’s ruling is correct. (We are confident the Nebraska Supreme Court will uphold the district court ruling.)
This is, thank God, another notch in the belt of pro-life victories that we have been building on for the last 5 years. Those victories have included passing laws to tell moms there is still hope with abortion pill reversal, banning dismemberment abortions, preventing taxpayer money going to organizations colluded with or a part of the abortion industry, and defeating countless efforts to make Nebraska a pro-abortion state.
These are the types of pro-life victories we want to celebrate with you at this year’s Bishops’ Pro-Life Banquet and Conference.
This year’s celebration is “The Truth Will Set You Free”. The event takes place in Lincoln on October 6-7. On Friday night at the banquet, we will come together in celebration and solidarity as a pro-life community to rejoice in the Lord’s pro-life blessings. We will hear from Catholic Answers apologist, Joe Heschmeyer, who is sure to inspire and educate our hearts and minds. On Saturday at the conference, there will be opportunities to network with pro-life leaders from across the state, find opportunities for involvement in the culture of life, and learn how the truth can shape our pro-life movement in Nebraska!
We really hope you can join us for either/both the pro-life banquet and/or conference. It’s a “you won’t want to miss it” type of event.
Visit www.NEcatholic.org to learn more and get registered! Registration will only be open one more week, so you better act now!
God bless your efforts and God bless the pro-life movement in Nebraska!