Nebraska’s alternative approach

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: a new pro-life strategy.

A week ago today, voters in 10 states considered ballot measures to put abortion into state constitutions. Seven states passed those measures; three states kept rights to abortion out of their constitutions.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Pro-life groups in one of those states employed a strategy some say could help defeat future abortion amendments. Here’s WORLD life beat reporter Leah Savas.

LEAH SAVAS: Leading up to Election Day, Nebraska Right to Life executive director Sandy Danek was nervous. Her group was a part of Protect Women and Children, the coalition opposing Nebraska’s pro-abortion ballot measure.

DANEK: You’re coming up against Planned Parenthood and ACLU, you know, some of the biggest pushback on the abortion issue that you can come up against.

Of the 10 states with abortion-related amendments on ballots, Nebraska was the only one where pro-life groups responded by backing an opposing amendment.

DANEK: The pro-life initiative that we were trying to pass, of course, didn’t have a total ban. It only allowed for protection for babies in the womb in the second and third trimester.

The amendment also allows for abortion after the first trimester in cases of sexual assault, incest, and medical emergencies.

DANEK: It was strategic that we do that, because we knew polling showed that that would be something that would likely pass, whereas the total ban would not.

Their work paid off. The alternative amendment passed while the Planned Parenthood-backed amendment fell short of majority support.

DANEK: The numbers essentially showed 48% support for them, 55% for us. That’s a pretty narrow win.

In South Dakota and Florida, voters narrowly rejected pro-abortion amendments.. But similar measures passed in seven states, including in Missouri. A law there currently protects unborn babies from abortion throughout pregnancy. But just under 52% of voters backed a constitutional right to what the amendment calls “reproductive freedom.” That means Missouri will likely become a destination for abortion seekers since it now effectively allows abortion on demand throughout pregnancy.

KEHR: I think that the Missouri result is a bit surprising because of what we have seen as far as a culture of life goes in the state of Missouri.

That’s Brad Kehr, the government affairs director at Americans United for Life, talking about Missouri’s pro-abortion amendment.

KEHR: It passed by about three and a half points, which means that if, potentially, if voters in Missouri had another place to land other than abortion on demand, they could have done that just like we saw in Nebraska.

He wonders if some Missouri voters had concerns with the pro-abortion amendment but backed it anyway because they didn’t have a more moderate option.

KEHR: We know from polling that not everybody is an extreme on abortion, meaning not everybody wants abortion on demand, but when given a binary choice between abortion on demand or not, they see that as their only place to land.

But with an alternative on the ballot in Nebraska, voters at the polls told WORLD that they were more comfortable supporting a moderate approach to abortion law.

FARMER: 434, I voted for…

Independent voter Doug Farmer in Lincoln said he supported the pro-life backed amendment. Initiative 434 was the amendment supported by pro-life groups.

FARMER: you could get one in the first but it has to be in the first trimester. That’s 434 right, okay, and 439 is you can get one any time.

DUNN: What was your reason for that?

FARMER: I just think the little boogers are too old once they get in the second, third semester.

Lincoln Republican Raymond Samuel voted against the pro-abortion initiative 439 because…

SAMUEL: I feel it extends it too far.

But he’s fine with the state’s current law allowing abortion until 12 weeks. So he backed 434, which would maintain that limit.

SAMUEL: I am very much for each state deciding where they want it. As far as pro abortion, I’m okay with abortions up to about 18, but much beyond that, and I feel with modern technology, you could probably if you really tried to get most of them to be able to be born through some other means.

Nebraska’s strategy to keep voters like that from supporting the pro-abortion amendment sparked a discussion among pro-lifers about how to combat other state pro-abortion ballot measures in the future. Here’s Katie Glenn Daniel, state policy director at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

DANIEL: I think Nebraska shows a potential path forward in some of these states where you've got a lot of voters who are saying we don’t want zero abortions, we also don’t want unlimited abortions, you know, where’s that middle ground?

Other pro-life Nebraskans see that middle ground as shaky. One of them is Jarrod Ridge, founder of End Abortion Nebraska.

RIDGE: Why did we not come out with a ballot measure that actually said abortion is illegal, and allow then the voting populace to decide, instead of offering something that really doesn’t protect the innocent.

Since many babies are aborted during the first trimester, Ridge says the 12-week limit leaves many unborn lives unprotected. He thinks Nebraska had a chance at defeating the pro-abortion amendment without the alternative.

RIDGE: I think we would have seen the pro choice one actually defeated, instead of getting a pro life amendment that puts legalized baby murder in our constitution all the same.

But for U.S. Senator from Nebraska Pete Ricketts, the new amendment will be something to build on.

RICKETTS: I know, I get it. Like I don't want any abortions. I believe that life begins at conception… What we put in certainly says, abortion after the first trimester is not allowed, but it doesn't say it's a fundamental right to abortion. So it doesn't open the door to things like funding abortions.

Senator Ricketts says that by not enshrining a right to abortion in the constitution, it’s possible to come back later and pass more protections for the unborn.

RICKETTS: I think part of the challenge is we've got a lot of work to do winning hearts and minds. Our 434 ballot initiative gives us that opportunity to be able to do that… I'd like to save some babies rather than no babies.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leah Savas, with reporting from Lauren Dunn in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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