There’s plenty of activity in the public policy world at the Nebraska Catholic Conference. Rather than focus on one issue, let’s chat about a few items.
Bishop & Brews. If you’re in the Omaha area on Wednesday, September 16, join the NCC for an intriguing panel discussion on artificial intelligence. The panel will feature Archbishop McGovern, State Senator Rita Sanders, Father Kevin FitzGerald, SJ, and yours truly.
Panelists will cover various aspects of AI. We’ll discuss Pope Leo’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and the impact of AI on the human person, community, education, health care, parenting and child protection, data centers and care for creation- you name it.
The event will be “Theology on Tap”-like, laid back, leisurely and community-oriented. Enjoy a brew, pull up a seat and hear from your Archbishop and other leaders on living well in our digital age. And invite family, friends and fellow parishioners. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the German-American Society.
Chemical Abortion Drug Concerns. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Human Life Amendment are calling on Catholics to help stop dangerous abortion drugs.
In Nebraska, over 80% of abortions are chemical abortions administered through a two-pill process. The first pill depletes a mother’s progesterone levels to make her uterus unlivable for her unborn child. The second pill expels the deceased unborn child.
The action items call on Catholics to 1) tell major US pharmacies (like Walgreen’s and CVS) to stop selling the abortion pill; 2) call on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reverse its approval of mifepristone (the first of two pills used in the chemical abortion process); and 3) ask Congress to act on legislation which would rescind the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and allow mothers to file private lawsuits against manufacturers of abortion drugs. Take action by visiting www.HumanLifeAction.org.
Immigration Updates. Some recent news articles are worth summarizing to understand our situation on federal immigration matters.
One article noted historic record lows for refugee admissions into the United States, with only 10,258 refugees admitted through July this year. These low numbers raise concerns about our country’s obligation to “welcome the stranger” and offer shelter to migrants experiencing persecution or other major issues in their home country.
Another article noted a spike in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in July, with nearly 50,000 arrests. While the presidential administration claims to focus its arrests on dangerous and violent criminals, the stats reveal many arrested have no criminal history. This raises concerns about the balance between a nation’s right to secure its own borders through immigration enforcement versus the need to provide meaningful avenues for obtaining legal immigration status.
Major Settlement with Big Tech. Last week, Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced the “largest big tech settlement in history.” Meta Platforms, Inc., which owns social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, will pay out $17.1 billion across numerous states and be required to implement child protection measures. As the Hilgers reports, “this is the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s.”
Nebraska will receive $201 million through this settlement. Hilgers states that the consumer protections will “fundamentally transform how the entire social media industry designs products for kids and teens.”
Visit www.ago.nebraska.gov to learn more about the settlement and check out the Attorney General’s “Online Safety Guide for Parents.”
School Choice Lawsuit. A school choice-related lawsuit was recently filed in Lincoln by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA).
NCLA’s central claim is that “education is speech” whether through “curriculum taught, books assigned and the values reinforced inside (and outside) of the classroom.” Consequently, parents have a fundamental right to educate their children in a manner consistent with their free-speech rights.
But in Nebraska, the lawsuit alleges parents only have access to one type of state-supported education model: the public school system.
Importantly, NCLA is not asking for the state to “end, defund or influence public schools” or to make public schools teach any certain kind of material. NCLA wants parents to have “a level playing field” for the type of educational speech their children can access.
How the lawsuit unfolds is anybody’s guess, but it could have a major impact on parents’ rights to choose an education that is best for their children. Stay tuned!
Tom Venzor is the executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, headquartered in Lincoln. Contact him at tvenzor@necatholic.org.
Students from Norfolk Catholic School pray the rosary.
Commentary
AI, school choice, big tech and more: What Nebraskans need to know
August 31, 2026
There’s plenty of activity in the public policy world at the Nebraska Catholic Conference. Rather than focus on one issue, let’s chat about a few items.
Bishop & Brews. If you’re in the Omaha area on Wednesday, September 16, join the NCC for an intriguing panel discussion on artificial intelligence. The panel will feature Archbishop McGovern, State Senator Rita Sanders, Father Kevin FitzGerald, SJ, and yours truly.
Panelists will cover various aspects of AI. We’ll discuss Pope Leo’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and the impact of AI on the human person, community, education, health care, parenting and child protection, data centers and care for creation- you name it.
The event will be “Theology on Tap”-like, laid back, leisurely and community-oriented. Enjoy a brew, pull up a seat and hear from your Archbishop and other leaders on living well in our digital age. And invite family, friends and fellow parishioners. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the German-American Society.
Chemical Abortion Drug Concerns. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Human Life Amendment are calling on Catholics to help stop dangerous abortion drugs.
In Nebraska, over 80% of abortions are chemical abortions administered through a two-pill process. The first pill depletes a mother’s progesterone levels to make her uterus unlivable for her unborn child. The second pill expels the deceased unborn child.
The action items call on Catholics to 1) tell major US pharmacies (like Walgreen’s and CVS) to stop selling the abortion pill; 2) call on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reverse its approval of mifepristone (the first of two pills used in the chemical abortion process); and 3) ask Congress to act on legislation which would rescind the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and allow mothers to file private lawsuits against manufacturers of abortion drugs. Take action by visiting www.HumanLifeAction.org.
Immigration Updates. Some recent news articles are worth summarizing to understand our situation on federal immigration matters.
One article noted historic record lows for refugee admissions into the United States, with only 10,258 refugees admitted through July this year. These low numbers raise concerns about our country’s obligation to “welcome the stranger” and offer shelter to migrants experiencing persecution or other major issues in their home country.
Another article noted a spike in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in July, with nearly 50,000 arrests. While the presidential administration claims to focus its arrests on dangerous and violent criminals, the stats reveal many arrested have no criminal history. This raises concerns about the balance between a nation’s right to secure its own borders through immigration enforcement versus the need to provide meaningful avenues for obtaining legal immigration status.
Major Settlement with Big Tech. Last week, Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced the “largest big tech settlement in history.” Meta Platforms, Inc., which owns social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, will pay out $17.1 billion across numerous states and be required to implement child protection measures. As the Hilgers reports, “this is the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s.”
Nebraska will receive $201 million through this settlement. Hilgers states that the consumer protections will “fundamentally transform how the entire social media industry designs products for kids and teens.”
Visit www.ago.nebraska.gov to learn more about the settlement and check out the Attorney General’s “Online Safety Guide for Parents.”
School Choice Lawsuit. A school choice-related lawsuit was recently filed in Lincoln by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA).
NCLA’s central claim is that “education is speech” whether through “curriculum taught, books assigned and the values reinforced inside (and outside) of the classroom.” Consequently, parents have a fundamental right to educate their children in a manner consistent with their free-speech rights.
But in Nebraska, the lawsuit alleges parents only have access to one type of state-supported education model: the public school system.
Importantly, NCLA is not asking for the state to “end, defund or influence public schools” or to make public schools teach any certain kind of material. NCLA wants parents to have “a level playing field” for the type of educational speech their children can access.
How the lawsuit unfolds is anybody’s guess, but it could have a major impact on parents’ rights to choose an education that is best for their children. Stay tuned!
Tom Venzor is the executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, headquartered in Lincoln. Contact him at tvenzor@necatholic.org.