A group of doctors is requesting the Nebraska Secretary of State to remove one of two abortion initiatives from the November ballot.
In a letter, the group of more than 30 doctors said the ballot measure to allow abortion until fetal viability violates Nebraska’s single-subject law.
According to the letter, the ballot initiative in question redefines “fetal viability” to allow late-term abortions well beyond the actual age of viability because of its "expansive, ambiguous, confusing, and misleading language." It also stated that the initiative’s language allows non-physicians to make viability determinations by using the term “healthcare practitioner.”
“The abortion industry’s proposed ballot initiative refers to ‘fetal viability,’ which the medical community and the public understand to mean an infant’s ability of surviving ex utero, either with or without artificial assistance,” Dr. Catherine Brooks, a practicing neonatologist, wrote in the letter. “There is a significant body of medical literature and scientific study behind this current definition.”
The letter went on to say the language in the initiative is not comprehensible, in conflict with the current medical standard for determining viability, and could potentially extend the meaning of “viability” into the third trimester of pregnancy.
The proposal to expand abortion rights until fetal viability – usually around 24 weeks – is expected to be on the November ballot after the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Officer certified 136,000 valid petition signatures on Friday.
The petition is backed by Protect Our Rights, a coalition of pro-abortion rights groups like Planned Parenthood, ACLU Nebraska and I Be Black Girl.