Nebraska voters mull dueling abortion measures amid accusations of trickery
Lincoln, Nebraska - Abortion is on the ballot in many parts of the country next month, but only in Nebraska must voters decipher two contradictory propositions – amid bitter claims of trickery and deception by both sides.
The Midwestern state currently bans abortion after 12 weeks, and voters on November 5 will be asked if they want to enshrine that law in their constitution. But they will also be asked whether to guarantee a right to abortion until fetal viability, which is around 22 to 24 weeks.
The two laws obviously cannot coexist. So in the event that both are approved, the initiative that receives the most "for" votes would become law.
"It's confusing," said Jean Hanson, a 63-year-old accountant living in Omaha.
"I think a lot of people will either vote for both of them, which defeats the purpose, or they'll end up voting for the wrong one."
Backers of each initiative collected over 200,000 signatures to get onto the ballot. Dozens of Nebraskans told local media that they were tricked into signing the wrong petition.
"There has been confusion," Republican state Senator Merv Riepe told AFP. But "it's easier to get on a petition than it is to get off of a petition," he added ruefully.
On Election Day itself, voters will have to read Initiatives 434 and 439 on their ballots carefully to make sure they don't accidentally tick the wrong boxes.
John Cavanaugh, a Democratic state senator, believes conservatives purposefully created their stricter ballot initiative – which emerged after the pro-choice petition – "as a way to confuse the issue and make it harder for the other one to pass."
For Republican congressman Don Bacon, the Democrats "embellish and exaggerate" the other side's stance on abortion for their own political advantage.
"I think they're deceptive," he told AFP.
Abortion rights take center stage in presidential election
Abortion has taken center stage in November's election.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump frequently brags about appointing the Supreme Court judges who voted to gut federal protections in 2022.
Vice President Kamala Harris' Democrats seek to capitalize on polls showing most Americans support at least some legal access to abortion.
At least 20 states have imposed restrictions on abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned, including Nebraska, where the issue has been especially thorny and complex.
When Riepe last year blocked a six-week abortion ban, he received hate mail, was escorted from the legislature's floor by armed guards for his own protection, and was censured by his Republican colleagues.
"They didn't like my vote. And I said, 'Okay, I don't care if you like it,'" said the former medical administrator.
One fellow senator even "sent me a text that said that I was going to go to the deepest, hottest part of hell. But we're back to being friends," he recalled.
Riepe later drafted the existing 12-week law – choosing that length based on European nations like Germany and Italy – but he now supports a bill allowing abortions up to 20 weeks when the fetus has a fatal condition. Its passage through Nebraska's legislature has been indefinitely postponed.
His position on the abortion ballot initiatives next month?
"I am probably going to stay away from both," he told AFP. "Both sides distort a bit."
Cover photo: IMAGO / Pond5 Images