Midlands Voices: Keep abortion safe and legal in Nebraska

[Omaha Steve]

https://omaha.com/opinion/columnists/midlands-voices-keep-abortion-safe-and-legal-in-nebraska/article_b9915996-7ad9-11ec-af42-cfffa685a4a9.html




Andi Curry Grubb is executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska.

Handout

Andi Curry Grubb

The elected officials representing Nebraskans at the statehouse intend to strip our fundamental right to make health care decisions that are best for us and our families. In a matter of months, abortion could be banned in Nebraska.

The reproductive freedom and rights of Nebraskans are already under serious threat as the Supreme Court prepares to rule in a Mississippi abortion case that directly challenges federal protections for abortion rights. But now, Nebraska lawmakers are working to fully criminalize abortion — of any sort, at any stage and under virtually all circumstances.

To be clear: Abortion is still safe and legal in our state right now, and nearly 2,400 Nebraskans had an abortion last year. Nationally, one in four American women of child-bearing age today will have an abortion by age 45. This means that, most likely, someone you know and love has had an abortion. You just may not know it because the stigma around abortion is so severe that many people don’t share their stories.

Those who strongly oppose abortion have spread misinformation, creating harmful stigma and shaming people who have had abortions into silence. This has left a vacuum that the vocal minority has used to push its narrow, ideological agenda against abortion to the tipping point. Getting an abortion in Nebraska is already challenging due to highly restrictive laws that place burdensome, medically unnecessary requirements on patients and providers. The Guttmacher Institute categorizes our state as hostile to reproductive rights.

FULL article at link above.