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Gov. Pillen, abortion-rights campaign clash over ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages and abortion • Nebraska Examiner

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Gov. Pillen, abortion-rights campaign clash over ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages and abortion • Nebraska Examiner


LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen spent Tuesday seeking to explain how Nebraska physicians should care for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages while wading into the waters of competing abortion-related ballot measures.

Pillen did not directly refer to either ballot measure at a news conference he held with four medical providers, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly and the state chief medical officer. State law prohibits elected officials from directly using state resources for campaigning. Pillen held his press conference in the governor’s hearing room at the State Capitol. 

But the group made clear they were speaking against a “political agenda for abortion.” 

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. Oct. 22, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

They said they were seeking to fight “misinformation” about ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, but they repeatedly declined to specify where they had heard the “misinformation” other than “in media” and “on TV.”

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Ads promoting the abortion-rights ballot issue offered by Protect Our Rights feature doctors who say Nebraska patients struggle to get certain types of care for nonviable pregnancies or in emergency situations. 

“To be clear, crystal clear, under current law, a woman in Nebraska can obtain care for miscarriage throughout her entire pregnancy,” Pillen said. “It is unconscionable for anyone to claim otherwise.”  

Nebraska is the first state nationally where voters will weigh two competing abortion-related constitutional amendments this general election:

  • Initiative Measure 434, offered by Protect Women and Children, seeks to prohibit most abortions after the first trimester.
  • Initiative Measure 439, offered by Protect Our Rights, seeks to allow abortions up to the point of fetal viability, as determined by the treating health care provider.

Both campaigns have spent millions in advertising.

‘Desperate misleading propaganda’

Sponsors and backers of the abortion-rights constitutional amendment, from Protect Our Rights, said the timing of Pillen’s news conference seemed “absolutely intentional.” In a statement, the campaign derided the event as “desperate misleading propaganda.”

Dr. Emily Patel, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Omaha, was one of four medical providers who took part in a counter event later Tuesday organized by Protect Our Rights.

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Dr. Emily Patel. (Courtesy of Emily Patel)

Patel said pregnancy is a high-risk condition that can threaten the life of expecting mothers, cause infertility or lead to death.

Patel told the Nebraska Examiner that Pillen’s event raised multiple “red flags” by focusing on current law without specifying where the “misinformation” came from. She said she and other supporters of the abortion-rights ballot measure have spent their own time combating information about their campaign.

“Being truthful with patients, to me, means giving them all the options that are available to them,” Patel said. 

Dr. Catherine Brooks, a neonatologist who supports the abortion restrictions amendment by Protect Women and Children, said “fetal viability” has no clear medical definition and is “a gray area” for providers.

“Women expect precision from their health care professionals, but fetal viability has no precise definition,” Brooks said in a statement. “[Initiative] 439 is not medically acceptable.”

The current 2023 law prohibits most abortions after 12 weeks gestational age, or at the end of the first trimester, during which most abortions are performed.

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The current scientific standard for fetal viability is at about 22-24 weeks gestation.

‘The confusion is out there’

Dr. Timothy Tesmer, the state chief medical officer, said his duty is to ensure that the medical community understands clearly what the law means.

“The confusion is out there,” Tesmer said. “Not only with patients in the public, but also with medical providers.”

Dr. Timothy Tesmer, Nebraska’s chief medical officer. oct. 22, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Current state law, adopted in 2023, included explicit language protecting treatment of ectopic pregnancies, and Tesmer said most questions he fields from medical providers relate to the exceptions language. He noted that the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services offered guidance on exceptions at least once in spring 2023, when the Legislature was debating a near-total abortion ban. 

Tesmer said in vitro fertilization is allowed under current state law. 

Lt. Gov. Kelly said the law includes no criminal penalties for doctors, and Tesmer said no Nebraska doctor’s license has been sanctioned or revoked since LB 574 took effect in May 2023.

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“If they follow the law and exercise their reasonable medical judgment, there are no adverse consequences to their medical license,” Tesmer said.

Pillen encouraged any Nebraska women who have been told by a medical professional that they can’t receive care for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies to reach out to DHHS.

Tesmer said he has heard no complaints from women about access to care. If physicians have questions, he said they should reach out to their legal representatives or to DHHS.

Possible delays in care?

Patel said Tesmer’s answer illuminated some of the concern doctors are feeling. She said asking for legal advice could delay care.

“At 2 a.m. on a Sunday, that’s not the kind of situation that you want your doctor to be in when you’re in a life-threatening situation,” Patel said.

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Supporters of the Protect Women and Children abortion-related petition effort celebrate turn-in of more than 200,000 signatures seeking access to the November 2024 ballot. July 3, 2024. (Courtesy of Protect Women and Children campaign)

Dr. Elizabeth Constance, a reproductive endocrinologist in Omaha, said the governor’s news conference often conflated care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies with treatment for patients with non-viable pregnancies.

“There is no confusion about whether this [miscarriages] can be managed,” Constance said.

Constance said if voters adopt the abortion-restrictions ballot measure offered by Protect Women and Children, there would be no way later to add other exceptions. That could include lethal fetal anomalies, or conditions that physicians decide will result in an infant’s death at or shortly after birth.

Tesmer said he would leave any decision on fetal anomalies to the Legislature.

‘A walking coffin’

Kimberly Paseka of Lincoln took part in the event supporting the abortion-rights measure and is appearing in ads for Protect Our Rights.

Supporters of the Protect Our RIghts abortion-related petition effort, celebrate turn-in of more than 200,000 signatures seeking access to the November 2024 ballot. July 3, 2024. (Courtesy of Protect Our Rights campaign)

Paseka said Tuesday she miscarried early on in her first pregnancy and had a tough second pregnancy before giving birth to a healthy boy in 2021. Then last year, she was pregnant for a third time, and while she said she was fearful after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Paseka and her husband, hoped for the best.

Partway through her pregnancy, facing a diminishing fetal heartbeat, Paseka’s doctor sent her home for “expectant management,” meaning her condition would be closely monitored,without providing treatment, unless symptoms changed.

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By then Paseka’s pregnancy was past the 12-week abortion limit. She said her doctor didn’t act because of confusion over LB 574. She described having intense pain and contractions that took a heavy toll on her mental and physical state, until she lost her baby at home.

“The tough part was knowing that my health wasn’t in immediate danger, but I had to wait for death to happen inside me,” Paseka said.

“I use the term ‘like a walking coffin,’ and I don’t know how to explain it any better than that, that it’s just waiting,” Paseka continued. “You’re just, you know death is happening, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

In her fourth pregnancy, Paseka said, she got an abortion after facing complications early on, which she said gave a sense of control over her own care.

The standards of care

The physicians who joined Pillen said they have been with women in their worst moments but feared that some of the rhetoric being used in the current political campaigns would discourage some women from seeking care.

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Dr. Richard Wurtz of Lincoln, a family medicine doctor with a specialty in obstetrics. Oct. 22, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

For example, Dr. Richard Wurtz, a family medicine doctor with a specialty in obstetrics, said when faced with challenging medical situations, physicians “step up to the plate” and “rise to the challenge.”

He said current law ensures that life is respected and that women get proper care.

“Anyone who says this is not the case is not telling you the truth,” Wurtz said. “This is predicated on sound medical practice and on sound law.”

The physicians with Protect Our Rights said other more restrictive laws nationwide have harmed women or access to IVF. They said they oppose any impediment to care.

Patel said physicians will support patients no matter what path they choose.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand that we are not pushing a patient toward a termination or an abortion,” Patel said. “We are simply providing them with that option because that is what our standard of care is as obstetricians.”

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No. 24 Nebraska wins slugfest over Indiana

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No. 24 Nebraska wins slugfest over Indiana


A windy day led to a wild slugfest at Hawks Field Saturday, but No. 24 Nebraska baseball knocked off Indiana, 12-7, clinching the conference series for the Cornhuskers while running Nebraska’s home record to 11-0.

The Huskers scored three runs in the first and two in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead. The Hoosiers answered with three in the sixth and one in the seventh to cut the NU lead to 5-4. Nebraska took control of the game with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to grow the lead to 12-4. IU scored one in the eighth, but drew no closer.

Drew Grego was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Dylan Carey drove in five runs and hit a home run, while always drawing a pair of walks. Case Sanderson was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of walks. Jeter Worthley added a 2-for-4 showing with an RBI and a walk. Carson Jasa (5-1) earned the win, throwing 5.2 innings for NU. He allowed four hits while striking out 10 and walking five. For Indiana, Owen ten Oever was 1-for-3 with three RBI. Cooper Malamazian was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Huskers aim for the sweep Sunday at Hawks Field against Indiana. First pitch is slated for noon with pregame coverage at 11:30 a.m. on KLIN.

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No Kings protests return to Nebraska, draw hundreds and thousands

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No Kings protests return to Nebraska, draw hundreds and thousands


LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Hundreds of Nebraskans protested against the Trump administration Saturday along Nebraska Parkway in Lincoln, and thousands protested near Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha as part of No Kings demonstrations statewide.

Protesters along Nebraska Parkway in Lincoln on March 28, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

The third iteration of No Kings protests organized border to border gatherings to vent displeasure at President Donald Trump and his administration’s policy decisions. The Lincoln protest was held on the Helen Boosalis Trail between North 27th Street and North 56th Street.

“I don’t like what’s going on … I know it’s not the world I want to live in,” said Ford Kloepper, a 17-year-old Lincoln resident.

Kloepper said people his age are going to take the “brunt” of Trump’s “mistakes.” He pointed to the recent U.S. conflict in Iran as a motivator to protest for him, as he doesn’t want to get “drafted into a war in the Middle East for no reason at all.”

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Many of the protesters, much like previous demonstrations, held anti-Trump signs with slogans like, “Trump lies” and “Stop Trump, save democracy.” Others held American flags and wore costumes. Volunteers from different groups gathered signatures for ballot initiatives and at least one candidate. One of the petitions sought to let voters decide on a state constitutional amendment requiring larger majorities to repeal or change any law passed by voters. Volunteers for nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn collected signatures to get him on the November ballot. 

People gather at the Omaha No Kings protest. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
People gather at the Omaha No Kings protest. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

Organizers planned 18 protests across Nebraska. In Omaha, the rally was held at Gallagher Park, with thousands of protesters filling the sidewalks and grassy areas near the intersection of Maple Street and the Northwest Radial. 

Organizers said the spot let protesters draw attention to historic Benson and all of the restaurants, galleries and coffee shops that have made the neighborhood a cultural destination since 1887.  Among the crowd filled with a variety of ages and races was Lorin and Elwin Moseman, waving signs that said, “End Wars Before Wars End Us” and “No Kings No ICE.”

It was the Mosemans’ third anti-Kings rally, and despite the chill of the day, they said they wouldn’t have missed it. 

“It could have been an ice storm,” said Elwin, who was motivated in particular by “the Epstein files and Trump being in them, this stupid war we’ve got involved with Iran.”

His wife, Lorin, said she came to “stand up for democracy.”

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“I want to show up, stand up and speak out about our country,” she said, decrying “leadership incompetency from the very beginning.”

She said the nation needs a presidential job description and interview, and she was not short on words to describe her disgust and disappointment about current leadership: “Shameful, disgusting, exhausting.” 

“We’re in a broken world,” she said.

Nearby, a bundled up woman in a wheelchair held onto a sign that said, “I’m mad about everything.”

Lorin and Elwin Moseman of Omaha were among the thousands of protesters who participated in...
Lorin and Elwin Moseman of Omaha were among the thousands of protesters who participated in the Omaha demonstration on Saturday. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

Sara Peterson led buses carrying about 75 protesters from First United Methodist Church of Omaha. She said people felt a sense of unity and joy seeing the chanting crowd, which she said reflected her group’s makeup — diverse in age, ethnicity and political party.

“We’re not alone,” she said “It’s an exciting day to be a part of.”

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Peterson called the rally a “tangible sign of people coming together … for democracy.” Her group included church members and their friends — some of whom never participated in such a protest or rally before but felt the urge and were nudged “out of their comfort zone to take back our country and democracy.

Since the return of Trump for a second term, the anti-Trump group has organized national protests. Nebraska, much like the rest of the nation, saw multiple demonstrations throughout 2025. 

The group also bought ads in local newspapers ahead of the Saturday protests. Nebraska Republican Party chair Mary Jane Truemper had no immediate comment on the protests.

As Election Day gets closer, political observers have wondered how organizers might harness the political energy, whether the demonstrations might signal a coming wave of change at the polls, or whether momentum will fizzle after the crowds go home. Some have argued Democrats and progressives are good at mobilizing people for large-scale protests but have lagged conservatives in building local infrastructure to affect sweeping policy changes.

Back in Lincoln, Erik Betts, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student, said the political winds are in Democrats’ favor, and he feels the possibilities are endless, even in a reliably red state. He said he thinks Osborn could beat Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, and he hopes the “blue” wave might be large enough to beat Nebraska 1st Congressional District Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Legislature. 

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“We need to really show up this time …We’ve got to take this motivation … and make a difference,” Betts said. 

Betts said events like these help him stay hopeful because it reminds him that he is not alone.

“When you are in your own house and just scrolling on social media, it’s easy to feel just defeated,” Betts said. “So I come out as much to show support for everyone else, to feel that maybe a bunch of people agree with [me] and things can change.”

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com.

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Omaha woman fighting for medical debt relief in Nebraska

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Omaha woman fighting for medical debt relief in Nebraska


OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – For many families, beating a cancer diagnosis isn’t just about physical recovery. One Omaha cancer survivor is now using her voice to fight for medical debt relief across Nebraska.

Diana Gleisberg Meredith thought she had an upper respiratory infection in January 2024.

“In January of 2024, I felt like I had some kind of upper respiratory – maybe Pneumonia, RSV…” Meredith said.

She was sent from her primary care doctor to the emergency room to a hospital by ambulance in a five-hour span.

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“The ER doctor identified that it was cancer, likely lymphoma,” Meredith said.

Diagnosis came as new mother started treatment

The diagnosis came as Meredith became a new mom. She knew she had to immediately start treatment.

“It’s life changing. You go from not having a care in the world to thinking you’re going to die and how is that going to affect my baby. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through emotionally, physically and mentally,” Meredith said.

Meredith said there’s an invisible burden that comes with the diagnosis.

“Not everybody is lucky to have the financial support or the human support to help them,” Meredith said.

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Treatment costs could add up to millions

Meredith had 12 chemo treatments. Each used four medications, with one of those costing more than $130,000. For one family, this could add up to millions.

After Meredith entered remission, she began fighting for medical debt relief for other Nebraskans.

“Nebraskans all throughout the state and right here in Omaha – they’re having to make those decisions about should they save their life, or how do they care for their family,” Meredith said.

Advocacy group plans Washington trip

She works with Blood Cancer United alongside other Omaha mothers whose children are cancer survivors. They hold fundraisers like “Light the Night,” collecting thousands of dollars and supporters.

In May, they’ll travel to Washington, D.C., for training on how to push for change at the federal level.

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“Our office of public policy gets together to help train these volunteers, help them get to know each other better and develop familiarity with what it means to go to a lawmakers office in Washington DC,” said Dana Bacon, senior director of government affairs for Blood Cancer United.

Meredith is fighting for lower interest rates on medical debt, no foreclosures on homes over medical debt and paused interest rates.

“It’s probably the most stressful thing that you’re going to go through, and then having to add medical debt on top of it? To be honest it’s hell,” Meredith said.

Other states are already protecting families from medical debt. Meredith said Nebraska should be next. Iowa is one of the states that limits liens and foreclosures when a family is drowning in medical debt.

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