On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the state's ban on gender-transition care for minors and 12-week abortion ban, finding that the two issues could legally be considered together, according to The Hill.
In the final stretch of Nebraska's legislative session last year, the abortion ban was added to Legislative Bill 574 — which restricts access to gender-transition care for minors — as an amendment.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued on behalf of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, arguing that the law violated a constitutional amendment that requires bills deal with a single subject.
However, the state's highest court ruled that the law broadly covers the "regulation of permissible medical care," despite abortion and gender-transition care being "distinct types of medical care."
Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman wrote in a critical partial dissent that she did not think abortion and gender-transition care encompass "one subject," and said the majority submitted to the Legislature "at the expense of the Constitution."
"Unrelated provisions that happen to do similar things at some level of generality do not dispel the criticism that the bill contains more than one subject," Miller-Lerman said.
She added that it is not the court's job to "scour the bill in hopes of finding one subject that could conceivably explain inclusion of very different acts in one bill."
Conservative lawmakers in the Nebraska Legislature originally proposed two bills last year: one that would have banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and one that would have banned gender-transition care for children.
The six-week abortion ban failed to clear the filibuster by one vote, however, so the Legislature tacked the 12-week abortion ban onto the transgender care legislation as an amendment.
The ACLU appealed after the lawsuit was dismissed last August by a district judge.
Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, told The Hill that clinics in the state "will proudly continue providing abortion care up to 12 weeks and we remain dedicated to helping our patients in Nebraska access the care they so desperately need, even if it means having to travel out of state."
Voters could ultimately make the final decision, as two opposing questions on the topic are likely to appear on November's ballot. One would enshrine the 12-week ban in the state's constitution, while the other would add the right to abortion.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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