Pro-Life And Pro-Abortion Initiatives Certified For The Ballot

The Nebraska Secretary of State’s office has counted and certified competing abortion initiative petitions for the November ballot.

Earlier this summer, the Protect Women and Children ballot initiative turned in more than 205,000 signatures to establish basic constitutional protections for pre-born babies. This was one of the largest grassroots petition efforts in state history, undertaken by 1,200 volunteers in every county in less than 100 days.

County election offices verified 136,000 signatures for the Protect Women and Children petition—far exceeding the 123,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot—before they stopped counting to save resources. 

The opposing Protect Our Rights ballot initiative to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution also collected enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot. Pending legal challenges, Nebraska voters will be the first in the nation to decide between an initiative that affirms life or an initiative that ends lives. 

The Secretary of State’s announcement revealed that the pro-life initiative qualified double the counties in less than half the time, collecting signatures from at least 5% of the registered voters in 86 counties, compared to the 47 counties qualified by the pro-abortion initiative.

Both initiatives are being reviewed by the Nebraska Supreme Court, and a decision is expected by Friday, September 13th. The ballot measures will be assigned a number once all the pending initiatives have been processed.

Early voting begins in just a few weeks, and outside funding is already pouring in to spread misinformation with confusing and deceptive advertising. The future of boys and girls yet to be born is at stake, and Nebraska Family Alliance is working to reach and educate voters before they head to the polls with a robust multimedia campaign already underway. 

Stand for life with us with a matched contribution to our pro-life strategy fund, share our resources with your friends and family, and pray life will prevail on the ballot. Find additional information, educational videos, and handouts on our online resource center.