CV NEWS FEED // On July 26, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the state legislature’s authority to combine bills related to public health and welfare, thereby supporting the merger of a stricter abortion ban with protections for minors against medical gender intervention.
According to the Nebraska Examiner, Legislative Bill 574 includes restrictions on puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and genital surgeries for minors, requiring minors to undergo at least 40 hours of gender-identity-focused therapy before receiving such treatments. Additionally, it establishes a ban on abortions after 12 weeks.
Planned Parenthood, represented by ACLU of Nebraska, argued that LB 574 unlawfully combined unrelated issues to secure legislative approval.
The court affirmed that because the bill serves the purpose of regulating health care, and both provisions aligned with this objective, it was appropriate for the Legislature to address both topics within a single bill.
“We find no merit to Planned Parenthood’s argument that LB 574 contains more than one subject,” the court stated.
The Nebraska Examiner reports that Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman issued a partial dissent, contending that a stricter abortion ban and restrictions on gender-related medical procedures performed on minors are unrelated issues.
Miller-Lerman criticized the court for determining the bill’s main purpose as “to regulate medical care” when she felt this was not clearly stated by the Legislature.
However, the majority responded directly, stating, “Unlike our dissenting colleague, and particularly in the absence of a suggestion that the title given by the Legislature was misleading, we decline to reject the elected representatives’ articulation of a subject in the guise of a search for the perfect title.”
According to the Nebraska Examiner report, Attorney General Mike Hilgers expressed satisfaction that the court upheld the constitutionality of the Legislature’s 12-week abortion ban and ban on “gender-altering” procedures for minors.
Nebraska governor Jim Pillen stated that he was “grateful for the court’s thorough and well-reasoned opinion upholding these important protections for life and children in Nebraska.”
