It’s been a year since Nebraska banned most abortions past 12 weeks

Wednesday marks one year since Gov. Jim Pillen signed legislative bill 574 into law, immediately banning most abortions past 12 weeks in Nebraska and tightening restrictions from 20 weeks.

In the past year, Nebraska Abortion Resources has helped patients get to abortion appointments outside of Nebraska when they’re past the 12-week mark.

“We have seen a tremendous increase in folks going out-of-state for abortion care,” NEAR executive director Shelley Mann said.

NEAR assists patients with the expenses associated with abortion appointments, like procedure costs, travel expenses, lodging, childcare and more.

“We’ve been able to fully fund every caller,” Mann said. “We really try to make it as seamless as possible, and we’ve been able to do that.”

NEAR has helped patients travel outside of Nebraska because the state’s two abortion providers had no capacity, Mann said, or because they experienced life-threatening conditions during their pregnancies.

Emily Patel has worked with similar cases as a doctor and maternal and fetal medicine specialist. She’s also a founder of Campaign For A Healthy Nebraska, a political action committee that advocates for reproductive healthcare access.

In the past year, Patel said she’s seen patients leave the state to access abortion care. That takes time away from work, and money for the procedure, travel and childcare.

“It is really cost prohibitive for the vast majority of people," she said. "We’re seeing situations where people are basically forced to carry a pregnancy that they didn’t want to carry. And there have been complications to happen to people who desired to have an abortion, were unable to access it and then end up with pregnancy complications.”

Abortion rights advocates argue LB574 unconstitutionally combined two subjects by placing restrictions on both gender-affirming healthcare for minors and abortions. The ruling from the Nebraska Supreme Court is still pending.

Karen Bowling with Nebraska Family Alliance has been advocating for anti-abortion rights legislation for more than 20 years. She called the bill’s passage “a historic moment.”

“The process to get [the bill] through was quite intense last year,” she said. “But the lesson that drives us on the pro-life movement is that you’re grateful for each step.

Bowling said she hasn’t heard any immediate plans to further restrict abortion access in the legislature. She said Nebraska Family Alliance and other anti-abortion rights activists are focusing on supporting a petition effort that aims to enshrine Nebraska’s current 12-week ban in the state’s constitution.

Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates are organizing their own campaign to expand access via a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.