Fight the Ban - 10 Reasons to Safeguard Abortion - Nebraska oppose LB 781, 933, 1086

 Greetings, Senator X,

 

This is X from X

I’ve emailed you previously and you would send responses, which was always appreciated, but I haven’t received responses in a while. I’ve written a few times on the anti-abortion bills 781, 933, and 1086, and used the ACLU site for contact, and hope these message are being delivered to your inbox, and not the junk folder :) 

I did contact your office and briefly mentioned that and alerted your aide that I would send another email. 

Since discussion of one of these bills will be happening soon, I wanted to reiterate that I expect you to vote NO to these and any bill that jeopardizes women’s access to safe, legal abortions. 

I’ve collected 10 reasons you must oppose LBs 781, 933, and 1086: (Hopefully this makes it a little easier to peruse) 

1. Those who insist abortions be made illegal are trying to put their religious beliefs into law that affects other people, and violates THEIR religious beliefs. We have separation of church and state for a reason.

2. No one can be forced to have an abortion against their will, and no should be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will. Banning abortions forces women to carry pregnancies against their will.

3. Pregnancy comes with many risks, the most severe being risk of death. If abortion is made illegal and pregnancies are required to be carried to term, that means women are not able to fully consent to the risks but are being sacrificed for an ideal by the state. 

4. A person cannot be required to donate organ, tissue, or blood without consent, even if it saves another person’s life. This is still true after their death. Parallel to this is the obvious concept that a woman is not required to carry a pregnancy to term, even though the life of the fetus is in question. 

5. Women are human beings and we have human rights and reproductive rights that mean we can choose if, how, and when to have children. Banning abortion is a violation of these rights.

6. Abortion is a medical procedure and may be brought into play for a number of reasons, even by women who had initially chosen to carry the pregnancy to term. Outlawing medical procedures because certain people don’t like them…. Is nonsensical. 

7. Outlawing abortion does not end abortion, but ends safe abortions. Women’s lives are put at risk when safe procedures are wrongfully taken away.

8. Rapists in Nebraska have parental rights. This is unethical for one, but imagine a woman is raped and pregnancy is now required. You are possibly forcing women to co-parent or get in a custody battle with their rapists, who de facto, are not safe for children to be around. Why are women so despised that they have to suffer multiple indignities?

9. According to the ACLU, Nebraska ranks 50th in state funding for family planning services that reduce unintended pregnancies. This makes sense as Nebraskans are afraid to teach comprehensive sex education in schools. Parents have raised enough stink that even public schools teach abstinence only and refrain from teaching about contraception. Abstinence only is a farce. It endangers youth and withholds information they need. Abstinence only has been proven to lead to unsafe sex and unwanted pregnancies. So not only are teens NOT learning about how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, banning abortion means they have no choice and are being punished for engaging in sex. Let’s catch up with the rest of the world and stop denying our children actual information they need to operate in the real world. 

10. We are wasting taxpayer time and money with each anti-choice anti-abortion law. Let’s do like Colorado and safeguard the right to abortion so women don’t have to constantly fight for our basic human rights.

Thank you for taking the time to read my message. You can guess this is a very important issue to me, and I do trust you will vote NO with these items in mind. 

Thank you, 

X

Additional Contact: oppose LBs 781, 933, 1086, Nebraska anti-abortion laws

 Greetings, Senator X, 

 

I am again writing in opposition to LBs 781, 933, and 1086, which are: the “Heartbeat Act” introduced by Senator Slama, the “Human Life Protection Act” introduced by Senator Albrecht, and the Chemical Abortion Safety Protocol Act, introduced by Senator Geist.

 

I have written on this before but this issue is of utmost importance to me. Please respond to confirm that you have received my correspondence. If I don't hear from you, I’ll want to call the office to ensure that my concerns are being heard. As you can see from the length of my message, an email can better address my thoughts than a phone call. :) 

 

First of all, no one is forcing women to have abortions (that’s illegal), so these bills are needless. However, these bills take away the right to abortion thereby forcing women to give birth, which is dangerous and unethical, and should also be illegal.

 

With all of this anti-choice/anti-abortion legislation I do not feel that women are safe in the state of Nebraska and I do not feel there is an appropriate separation of church and state. 

 

I understand there are people who look at abortion and pregnancy a certain way, but I do not agree that women are obligated to carry a pregnancy to term. No one should be forced into pregnancy to satiate the beliefs of strangers. There are people of all religious beliefs who DO believe a woman maintains the right to make a decision, so these anti-abortion laws are being created to appease a few over-reaching uninvolved people, and that needs to stop. It’s extremely unethical to ban abortion for others, as it is a reproductive right related to bodily autonomy. 

 

I’ve reminded you in my previous correspondence that current legislation around organ donation reflects that a person has bodily autonomy. A person cannot be required to give blood, tissue, or organs to anyone else, even if it saves that person's life. The same should be held as true for pregnancy. 

 

I'm disturbed at the idea that so many people want women to be forced to carry pregnancies to term period, much less in cases of rape, incest, or when it endangers a hopeful mother later in the pregnancy. 

 

My mother mentioned to me just yesterday that two of our neighbors died giving birth and had to be revived, and were then told they should not have further pregnancies. Pregnancy has many risks and is not something to take lightly. Forcing women to continue pregnancies takes away the consent aspect needed in order for a woman to have freely chosen pregnancy. DEATH is a risk of pregnancy. If you force women to continue pregnancies against their will, the state has taken away a woman’s ability to freely consent to that risk. That is NOT freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is some dystopian government level stuff and needs to be avoided by protecting abortion as the health care it is.

 

You cannot force someone to have an abortion, so a pregnancy, with higher risks and more significant outcomes (a human life), cannot be forced upon a woman, as these anti-abortion laws do. 

 

Women who choose abortions are aware of the significance of either choice. Women have been aware of the seriousness of pregnancy and abortion since a young age and neither choice is made lightly. Women choose abortion for a plethora of reasons, including women who are already mothers, or women who wanted that child but must terminate for the safety of themselves of their child. Some women who are cancer patients must terminate a pregnancy so that they may undergo chemotherapy and radiation that would otherwise injure the fetus. Women need to be able to make these choices themselves, not have options stolen from them by uninvolved parties. 

 

“Your right to swing your fist, ends where my face begins.” A person can choose to not have an abortion for themselves, but they can’t make that decision for someone else. This is common sense and needs to be applied in Nebraska by protecting the right to abortion and opposing LBs 781, 933, and 1086 immediately. 

 

The fact that Nebraska is a state in which rapists have parental rights is disturbing. In the Nebraska that some of these zealots want, a woman could be forced to birth a child from rape and co-parent with her rapist. That is NOT a world I want, nor a world that values women, or their ability to live a dignified life. 

 

Women's reproductive rights MUST be protected from these overreaching attacks on our liberty and bodily autonomy. You must oppose this legislation, or you are complicit in the suffering of women in Nebraska. 

 

Abortion should remain legal and accessible for all who seek it. 

 

If people want to claim pro-life, they need to separate themselves from thinking of it only in terms of birth. 

 

Universal Health Care, Universal Child Care, an Actual Living Wage, comprehensive sex ed in school (abstinence only is a sham in which youth are ill prepared for reality), working to abolish war, and more.... THOSE are all more pro-life than forcing women to give birth by taking away the right to abortion. 

 

Thank you for your time. I sincerely hope I can count on you to oppose LBs 781, 933, 1086 to ensure that women are safe in Nebraska. 

 

Thank you 

 

X

Nebraska: OPPOSE LB 1077 Prohibit education about race and sex introduced by Senator B. Hansen

Committee: Government, Military and Veterans Affairs

OPPOSE LB 1077 Prohibit education about race and sex introduced by Senator B. Hansen

Greetings, Senator X, 

My name is X from X, District X.

I write in opposition to LB 1077, prohibiting teaching “certain concepts” about race and sex, introduced by Senator B. Hansen.

When looking at the summary of intent and then the bill itself, I’m just struck by how absurd, vague, needless, and reactionary this bill is, as well as how difficult it would be to enforce, especially because it censors free speech. 

Limiting our education system to avoid talking about “race and sex” is dooming our education system. Our nation is built upon injustices and if we cannot fully discuss history with the aim of addressing it and improving the present and future, we are doomed to repeat the bad parts of history. 

This bill is created by people who are unwilling to view history as it really is, and how it affects the world today. We will never advance as a nation if we are not willing to have difficult discussions, to LISTEN to the people who have been systematically disenfranchised in this country and around the world. This bill essentially tells people to “shut up” because it makes others “uncomfortable” to hear about what other people experience. That “discomfort” pales in comparison to the uncomfortable realities that are being silenced with a bill like LB 1077.

One thing that especially struck me was Section 4, 4a-b. A student couldn’t get extra credit for doing what I am doing right now… reaching out to legislators, being civic-minded and engaged in the democratic process, expecting my concerns to be of interest to elected officials who are supposed to represent me and uphold my best interests. Being engaged in the legislation of our nation SHOULD be encouraged. Trying to make the laws better SHOULD be encouraged. 

LB 1077 does NOT make sense, not as it is written, nor as a concept in general. It restricts education and free speech. It is counteractive to the growth and compassion and empathy that should be happening in classrooms and in places of discussion. 

Some of the most important conversations and discussions I’ve been privy to HAVE been uncomfortable truths about race and gender and I am GLAD. Learning about history in all its ugliness, listening to others who have backgrounds and experiences different from my own, being encouraged to change the world to be a better place, to be civic-minded and engaged in creating better places for EVERYONE, this has molded me to be a person who cares about others and who wants to improve life for others. 

This bill is horrendously antithetical to education and is a disservice to students, educators, and the general public. Places of learning should be for learning, discussion, and improvement, NOT censorship and ignorance. 

I am strongly opposed to LB 1077 and I urge the Committee and Senators to vote NO. 

Thank you for your time

X

Nebraska: Proponent of LB 1129 & LB 716 - free contraception, qualified abortion practitioners

Background: emailed my Senator and Health and Human Services Committee prior to the Committee Hearing.  

Greetings, Senator X,

My name is X in X, District X. 

I write as a proponent of LB 1129, free contraceptives, introduced by Senator Morfeld.

I write as a proponent of LB 716, allowing qualified practitioners to perform abortions, introduced by Senator Hunt. 

I am a film believer that women’s choice and reproductive freedoms should be protected, as it is a pinnacle part of our human rights. This includes access to contraception and abortions. 

In relation to LB 1129, contraception can be expensive for some people and it is an important element to women being able to exercise some control over their daily life. Some women are not ready for children, do not want children, or need to use their resources to care for children they already have. All of these are important to our freedoms, self-determination, and reproductive rights. 

Our health insurance system in our country fails to provide people the ability to meet their health care needs. There was a time in which health care covered contraception and that was a life saver to so many women, who oftentimes use contraception to address other issues outside of its common use of birth control. Unfortunately, there is a gap once again. 

When the cost of contraception can be covered, women are supported. It also will help down the line to prevent unwanted/unintended pregnancies and perhaps some children cycling through poverty, dangerous situations, or CPS. Anything that can be done to help women with their health and family planning is a benefit to the community at large.

In regards to LB 716, abortion access has been under attack and there have been detrimental efforts to make this important option less accessible to women. We need to understand that abortion IS health care. Therefore, allowing a higher number of qualified practitioners to perform abortions is a benefit to expanding this health care that protects our reproductive rights. Women need MORE options, not less.

I am a proponent of both LB1129 & LB 716 and hope you will do your part to get these bills passed. Please vote yes to support women.

Thank you for your time

X

Nebraska: OPPOSITION to LB 781, LB 933, & LB 1086 - Antiabortion bills

I emailed the Judicial Committee ahead of the hearing on three anti-abortion bills in the 2022 Unicameral Legislature.

OPPOSITION to LB 781, LB 933, LB 1086 Greetings, Senator X My name is X in X, District X. I write in opposition to LB 781, the “Heartbeat Act” introduced by Senator Slama. I write in opposition to LB 933 the “Human Life Protection Act” introduced by Senator Albrecht. I write in opposition to LB 1086, Chemical Abortion Safety Protocol Act, introduced by Senator Geist. Outlawing abortion endangers women and is an affront to civil rights, human rights, reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, self-determination, and our basic freedoms. It treats women as second class citizens forbidden from making decisions that affect their health, bodies, and lives. Outlawing abortion means that the state has decided that all women must be subjected to the risk of death should there be complications in the pregnancy. Therefore it does not protect women’s lives. Pregnancy and childbirth is an undertaking that has short-term and long-term risks. When women are not allowed to assess what is best for them and are forced into pregnancies, we are living in a dystopian society that views women as vessels and not autonomous human beings. In Nebraska, rapists have parental rights, so when you take away a woman’s right to an abortion, you are subjecting her to the trauma of possibly co-parenting with her rapist, or relinquishing her child to her rapist. This is cruel and avoidable by allowing women to make the decision they find to be in their best interest (and by preventing rapists to have parental rights). We do not live in a society conducive to pregnancy and child-rearing. We do not have a living wage. We do not have mandatory paid maternity leave. We do not have universal health care. We do not have universal child care. You cannot force women to undergo pregnancies in a society that does not protect them financially. Even if all of these social and governmental ills were addressed, (and they should be) it’s still unethical and wrong to force a woman into a pregnancy. Even if Person A is in need of an organ and Person B is a perfect match, Person B cannot be coerced into providing said organ. Similarly, if Person C has not opted into Organ & Tissue Donation before death, their organs may NOT be harvested once they die. In the same vein, you cannot force a woman to use her body in a way that is against her wishes, even if a embryo/fetus/child will be prevented from developing. The idea of a ‘heartbeat’ has often been misconstrued to promote an agenda. A fetus's heart is not formed until closer to 10 weeks, even if a palpitation is audible closer to 6 weeks when it is still considered an embryo. At any rate, it cannot survive outside the womb until several months have passed, so it is absurd to restrict women from a hugely important decision at such an early stage. Women may not know they are pregnant prior to detection of a ‘heartbeat.’ Scheduling any procedure can take time and appointments may not be available in a timely manner. It requires a woman to be able to change a work schedule (i.e. lose money), find transportation, and rearrange child care. The cruelty of this restriction is intentional and shows no compassion, empathy, or understanding for the real burdens women face. Women choose abortion for a plethora of options, none of which are up for debate. Abortion may even be the best option for protecting women who originally wanted to continue the pregnancy. It is inappropriate and dangerous for uninformed, uninvolved people to make generalized laws that prohibit doctors and health care providers from performing procedures that are in the best interest of their patient. Those who would tell women they cannot terminate a pregnancy are overreaching into realms that do not include them. There is no need to pry into women’s private lives and complicate things that have nothing to do with the unsolicited opinion of a stranger. Laws preventing women from terminating pregnancies are very often shame-based and meant to punish women for having sex. Men escape this scrutiny despite being at least 50% responsible. I am uninterested in the moral beliefs of these people and they are infringing upon my civil liberties with their belief systems. This needs to end. As far as LB 1086, this is yet another method meant to make it harder for women to access abortions. We should be expanding systems of complete sex education, and access to methods of contraception and abortion so that people can safely choose what is best for them. I trust women to make choices for themselves with their chosen medical provider. I know women who have had abortions, women who have given birth, women who have never given birth, women who have struggled with fertility, women who have fostered, or adopted. Some of these women have experienced a variety of those situations. My wish is for all women to have the resources and support they need to make the best choice for themselves without the moral judgments or unnecessary legal restrictions from uninvolved parties. Again, I am in opposition to LB 781, LB 933, and LB 1086. They are needless, cruel, and should be dismissed for their affront to human rights. Vote no to each. Thank you for your time,

X

Nebraska: Support LB 793 & LB 125 Ranked Choice Voting

I emailed my own senator, as well as those on the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. LB 793 will have a hearing in the next day or so and I wanted to lend my support 
Support LB 793 & LB 125 Ranked Choice Voting

Greetings, Senator X,

My name is X in X, District X and I write in support of LB 793 for Ranked Choice Voting for local elections and in support of LB 125 for Ranked Choice Voting for Presidential/Gubernatorial etc elections, both introduced by Senator X.

There are wide-reaching benefits to introducing a ballot that allows voters to rank their choices in candidates. 

It is more cost-efficient and it would allow us to eliminate costly primaries and run-offs. 

It would also allow for a more true democracy and more positive engagement, instead of a choice between two major parties only. Many people feel disenfranchised knowing their vote doesn’t truly count, but with Ranked Choice Voting it does.

Ranked Choice Voting is used in 26 states for local, municipal, primary, or special elections, and 21 states have introduced legislation recently.

I support the change in our voting system to better represent the will of the people and allow for the adoption of a more efficient system and hope you will vote in support to make LB 125 & 793 a reality for Nebraska. 

Thank you for your time. 

X 

Nebraska Senator - Oppose 6 week abortion ban - LB 781

Greetings, Senator X, 

I urge you to support legislation that seeks to expand and protect reproductive rights and access to abortion in Nebraska and to vote against those laws meant to restrict women's reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. 

Please Support:

LB 715: Ensure abortion care covered under health insurance

LB 716: Allow qualified practitioners to perform abortions

OPPOSE:
LB 781: Ban on abortion at 6 weeks

Bans against abortion belong in the Dark Ages. It is not the 'protection of innocent lives' that it claims to be but a mix of enforcing religious beliefs, punishing women for intercourse, and the overreach of trying to control others.

The idea of a fetal heartbeat at 6 weeks isn't medically accurate either. And women don't often know they are pregnant at that time, nor would it be easy to get an appointment when needed, because, hi, life has complications of work, travel, childcare etc to arrange. 

A fetus/baby cannot live outside the womb at 6 weeks, so this ban is more of a "gotcha! You're pregnant and now you're trapped and have to give birth, whether you want to or not, because some stranger thinks you should!"

Bans against abortions do not prevent abortions. They endanger women's lives and needlessly create barriers to their lives and health when women should be empowered to make their own choices. Having children isn't something to take lightly and everyone should take all factors into consideration. It shouldn't be forced upon a person against their will. That's a violation of human rights and ludicrous. 

I have no interest in what my rural neighbors (or anyone else) think about my decision to have or not have children. 

I am concerned about the billboards I see around me that promote both religion and lies. 

One says "Serve God - Ban All Abortions" which is a clear defiance of separation of Church and State and shows the anti-choice issue is tied to religion. We have freedom of religion in this country. If someone doesn't want an abortion, no one can force them to. But they can't force women to give birth because of their own religion. It's an absurd overreach.

Another billboard says something like "Birth Control Causes Breast Cancer" or some such fallacy. It's medically incorrect and inappropriate to advertise a lie meant to shame people who use birth control, which is used for much more than preventing pregnancy.

It's frightening and annoying to live where people spread lies and push their religion onto others' bodies. Nebraska shouldn't be stuck in the Dark Ages. People shouldn't be proud to flout their ignorance and subjugation of women.

Banning abortion endangers women. Banning abortion is forcing pregnancies upon women and can be a death sentence. Some women choose abortions for children they wanted so they can have chemotherapy for cancer and possibly stay alive for their other children. A ban on abortion means that the woman is less important in the eyes of others than the fetus she carries. But it isn't up to "others". It's each woman's choice. Period.

I'm so sick of having to defend bodily autonomy against people who don't care for children that exist once they are born. We don't have guaranteed maternity leave, like all other developed nations. We don't have universal health care, like all other developed nations and the cost of childbirth is astronomical, even with health insurance. We don't have universal child care, and child care is often more expensive than the income a woman makes because the minimum wage is abysmal. Even if we had all those things.... a woman still has the final say. 

Banning abortions is a violation of human rights. Being forced to endure a pregnancy against one's wishes is criminal.

If a person doesn't want to donate organs after death, their organs cannot be harvested. So why should a woman be forced to give of her body against her will? Pregnancies carry their own short-term and long-term dangers and complications, including death. I honestly don't understand the entitlement people have when they try to force their beliefs upon others. Let others live their own lives and make their own choices. 

This is supposed to be a 'free country,' so let women maintain the very basic right as to whether or not they continue a pregnancy. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. You can sense my frustration; protecting women's bodily autonomy should be a very easy concept and is all too often in danger from those who have no right to an opinion in the matter, due to their own misconceptions and it not being their body. 

Sincerely, 

X