OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A lot can change in a year.
On June 23, 2022, abortion was legal in Nebraska for up to 20 weeks and the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v Wade decision was still the law of the land.
But just a day later, on June 24, things would quickly change.
“One year ago when Roe was overturned we all started bracing for elected officials to try and ban abortion in our state. For most of the year they tried very hard to do just that,” said Andi Curry-Grubb.
Lawmakers wasted no time addressing abortion in 2023.
A 6-week ban was introduced, then defeated and then revived again in another bill as a 12-week ban. That bill, LB574 which banned gender-affirming care and abortion, would end up passing.
An emergency clause on the bill means it is already in effect and already affecting women seeking care.
“A lot of the impact we are seeing in the immediate is emotional and psychological and financial for a lot of our patients. There are definitely bigger impacts, clinical outcome impacts that we will see long term as a result of overturning legal abortion in the United States,” said Dr. Sarah Traxler.
Traxler said that her office in Nebraska has seen an increase in patients from out of state over the last year after several of Nebraska’s neighbors implemented their own abortion bans.
But with access to abortion further limited in Nebraska by the passage of LB574, those patients are going elsewhere.
“We were all heartbroken and devastated when we had to implement the new 12-week abortion ban that was just enacted by the legislature. We are unable to see quite a few patients now and our team of patient navigators are doing an amazing job helping patients get to appointments in other states,” said Traxler.
The fate of Nebraska’s abortion ban rests on a court challenge that will be heard in July.
Grubb has cautioned advocates that court challenges will likely be the new norm in the battle over abortion but she said there is still hope for those supporting reproductive care at the ballot box.
“This isn’t right, it's causing harm and we want it to be different. Our best tool to change our reality is to vote,” said Grubb.
That challenge to Nebraska’s abortion ban will have a hearing in court on July 19.
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