Nebraska
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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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LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Currently, more than 300 students are enrolled as students in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Come next year, should $27.5 million of proposed budget cuts for the school’s next fiscal year be approved, it is one of six departments that will no longer exist.
“We offer the only PHD in higher education in the state of Nebraska,” Corey Rumann, an Assistant Professor of Practice in the department, said. “Eliminating that would be a huge, huge void.”
Statistics, Community and Regional Planning, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Landscape Architecture and Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion design are the five other departments now facing potential elimination.
Professors and students from each of those departments, as well as other university departments, spoke out against the proposed cuts at a public town hall in Lincoln on Tuesday night.
“It’s important for people to be able to chart their own course,” Abigail Cochran, a professor in the Department of Community and Regional planning, said. “I don’t think we’re really going to be able to do that with the elimination of our program and these other vital programs.”
For many educators in these departments, their concerns are for the students, both current and future.
“I’m not worried about me,” Susan Vanderplas, a professor in the Department of Statistics at UNL, said. “I’m worried about what this says about the state and the opportunities we’re offering the children of this state.”
For some students, a portion of their futures in now on the chopping block.
“You’ve committed to this university,” Robert Szot, a graduate student studying meteorology in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said. “To have that pulled out from under you means you have to change the entire way of what you’re doing on a dimes notice.”
The university’s Board of Regents is set to vote on the proposed plan on Dec. 5.
The UNL chapter of the American Association of University Professors will be holding a “Stop The Cuts” rally and petition drive outside the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s union on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
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Copyright 2025 KOLN. All rights reserved.
Nebraska
LAX-bound flight returns to Nebraska after pilots thought someone was trying to break into cockpit
OMAHA, Neb. (KABC) — A SkyWest flight bound for Los Angeles International Airport turned around in the air soon after takeoff Monday and returned to a Nebraska airport after the plane’s interphone system malfunctioned, leading to confusion onboard the aircraft, officials said.
Video recorded by a passenger shows police vehicles on that tarmac at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. Officers boarded the plane after Flight 6569 made an emergency landing.
The plane had traveled only 40 miles into the 1,300-mile journey before it turned back, according to an online flight tracker.
Shortly after takeoff, the pilots in the cockpit lost contact with their flight crew in the cabin. Passengers saw the crew, unable to communicate with the pilots, banging on the door of the cockpit.
The pilots, hearing banging on the door — and silence on the interphone — mistakenly thought someone was trying to breach the cockpit. They declared an emergency and returned the flight to Omaha.
In an announcement to the passengers after landing, the captain of the plane apologized for the unexpected return to flight’s airport of origin.
“We weren’t sure if something was going on with the airplane, so that’s why we’re coming back here,” the captain said. “It’s gonna be a little bit. We have to figure out what’s going on.”
The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement after the incident.
“SkyWest Flight 6569 landed safely after returning to Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, around 7:45 p.m. local time on Monday, Oct. 20, after declaring an emergency when the pilot could not contact the cabin crew,” the statement said. “After landing, it was determined there was a problem with the inter-phone system and the flight crew was knocking on the cockpit door.”
Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
As I watched Nebraska go down to Iowa on Black Friday of 2024, I told myself something:
“No matter what happens this offseason, don’t forget how you feel about this program at this exact moment.”
Nebraska had just blown a dominant performance against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 13-10 loss. You know the stats. A 20-5 edge in first downs. Outgaining Iowa 334-164, with 75 of those Hawkeye yards coming on a single play. Iowa rushed for 49 yards on 26 attempts. 1.9-per!
And the Hawkeyes still won.
“Sit in this exact moment, and don’t a single piece of news over the course of the next nine months sway you,” I told myself. “They need to prove themselves.”
And so, that’s what I did.
When they added new offensive linemen, I remained skeptical. Even additions of a couple of impressive wide receivers made me wonder why they hadn’t also improved the running back room. The defense lost experienced bigs in the interior; why were they going to improve again? The hire of Mike Ekeler as special teams coordinator was a genuinely inspired move, but why did they settle at defensive coordinator after Tony White went to Florida State?
January turned to March, which turned to summer and Big Ten Media Days. I wasn’t budging. I still had enough doubts. The Groin Kick Chronicles project was a great window into the last decade of Husker football. If anything, it was a reminder that Matt Rhule has been as responsible for some of the worst losses for the program as Scott Frost or Mike Riley were. And the ways in which Nebraska lost games in 2023 and 2024 – poor in-game decisions by the head coach, in particular – weren’t just going to fix themselves overnight.
As excited as I was about the potential “Year Three” bounce for Matt Rhule, there were enough reasons to doubt it could happen at this version of Nebraska in this version of college football. By the time we arrived at game week against Cincinnati, I hadn’t changed my tune. 7-5, with losses against Michigan and Minnesota in the first two months, followed by UCLA, Penn State, and Iowa late.
“Until they prove me wrong, I’m going to expect this to happen.”
And then the season kicked off.
A hard-fought win over Cincinnati was some of the proof I was looking for. Blowout wins over Akron and Houston Christian – the type of wins we hadn’t seen in recent years – had me believing that, at the very least, they were better.
I went against my pre-season priors and picked them to win against Michigan.
I was wrong; they lost. But look at the bright side! They repeatedly answered back when Michigan went up by double digits. I was grading them on a curve, even while incredibly disappointed with the defensive showing, but the offense got back up after being shoved in the dirt.
I liked them against Michigan State and Maryland. They responded to the adversity of each game, putting together 24 points across their final five drives against the Spartans. So what that the second and third quarters were absolutely terrible; in the end, they didn’t blink. Down 31-24 in the fourth quarter at Maryland, the defense got stops on three straight drives, while the offense scored ten points across their final two drives, including a touchdown with 1:08 remaining to win the game.
They were winning games they wouldn’t have in previous years and even with issues continuing to pop up, the schedule surely wouldn’t feature a team that could expose them, at least not until USC came into town.
It looked like the season’s floor had risen to 8-4. The ceiling, 10-2. Maybe even 11-1 if you could squint really hard.
Not only did I think they’d go into Minneapolis and pick up a win, I thought they’d do so in dominating fashion.
And then the game kicked off.
Nebraska was pushed around – bullied, in fact – against the Golden Gophers. Despite the score sitting at 7-6* Minnesota for over a quarter, it felt like the Gophers had extended their lead even though they hadn’t. The sacks piled up. The opportunities Nebraska missed on offense were getting worse by the play, culminating with Dylan Raiola’s overthrown pass to Dane Key on the first drive of the third quarter.
*Nebraska’s field goal that cut Minnesota’s lead to 7-6 came with 4:25 left in the first half. The touchdown pass from Drake Lindsey to Le’Meke Brockington that made it 14-6 came with 2:36 left in the third.
Archie Wilson punted the ball down to the 2-yard line and within nine plays, Minnesota had already crossed midfield. To make matters worse, they only needed to pick up one third-down conversion across those nine plays. It was death by a thousand paper cuts early in the drive; the Gophers never had a gain of fewer than three yards and no more than 12.
Matt Rhule’s defense had now been on the field for almost seven minutes. With 4:24 remaining in the third quarter, Nebraska took a timeout because they were tired and needed a rest.
Five plays later, the Gophers were in the end zone after a 20-yard touchdown pass capped off the 14-play, 98-yard drive that took 8:43 off the clock. The score was 14-6, but Minnesota might as well have been up by three scores. The game felt like it was over, even if all Nebraska needed was a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie it up.
On their ensuing drive, Nebraska went three-and-out before Minnesota scored a touchdown to make it 21-6. A drive later, Nebraska ran six more plays and faced another fourth down. With 9:37 left in the game, trailing by 15 points, Matt Rhule chose to give the ball right back to the team that had scored touchdowns on their previous two drives. An eight-play, 62-yard drive ensued, another 4:23 ticking off the clock, before Minnesota knocked in a field goal. It’s not like I would have trusted the offense to pick up any points, but to punt down two scores that late in the game? Really?
Nebraska’s penultimate drive of the game finished on downs in Minnesota territory and the game ended on one final sack* for the road, the ninth of the game for the Gophers. Thus ended the most disheartening loss of the Matt Rhule era. Minnesota won by a final score of 24-6. Nebraska dropped to 5-2.
*The first half ended on a sack, as well. In fact, the final offensive play of all three quarters for Nebraska ended in sacks. This coming off the Maryland game, in which the final play of the first half for Nebraska’s offense ended with Dylan Raiola being sacked. All told, three of the past four halves have ended with Dylan Raiola on the ground.
And so, we’ve reached an interesting spot:
Do you believe in Nebraska?
Do you believe in Nebraska’s ability to find a way to mask their weaknesses against a schedule that features multiple teams that have been headaches* for the program?
*Understandable if you’re annoyed by using the word “headache” to describe what Iowa has been for Nebraska. Horror show is probably a more apt description.
Do you believe in the offensive line to protect the quarterback better? Hell, do you believe in the quarterback that took nine sacks across 54 offensive plays on Friday night to find better pocket awareness than he has across his 20 career starts? Do you believe in the offensive coordinator to lean on his running back that is (was?) putting together the finest season by a Nebraska back in over a decade?
On defense, do you believe in the pass rush to get to the quarterback when it’s third and medium, and the opposition has already picked up two first downs on the drive? Do you believe in their ability to avoid a penalty on third or fourth down? Do you believe in their ability to make a tackle or will they get shoved around, a one-yard run turning into four or five? Do you believe in the defense getting a stop when they need to?
Do you believe?
I’m done. Nebraska football has lost all benefit of the doubt.
Save me from the distractions of the week. If anything, Matt Rhule brought some of the noise upon himself, calling out how much more* needs to be spent on the roster. Going on Pat McAfee’s show and saying all sorts of positive things about Nebraska… while still leaving the door open for the vacant Penn State head coaching job.
*I agree, for the record, but Nebraska just lost to a team that spends less on their roster than Nebraska does.
Nebraska went into Minneapolis and got absolutely punked by a football team and program that’s not as good as the recent Minnesota teams Nebraska has faced.
The Gophers entered as a team that had struggled to run the football, with a freshman quarterback who had noticeable limitations. Their defense had taken a step back, allowing Power Four opponents to score 29.8 points per game. This version of Nebraska – the 2025 version, with an offense scoring 29.8* points per game against Power teams and one of the best pass defenses in the country – would continue to show proof of concept of how things have changed. Instead, they were outscored 17-0 in the second half and never came close to threatening.
*Coming into the matchup, Nebraska had scored exactly 119 points in their four games against Power opponents. Conversely, Minnesota came in having allowed exactly 119 points across four games against Power teams.
I’m done trusting this team.
I’m done trusting Nebraska until they can find a way to win games against teams that are actually good – in the final five games, I’d say USC is the only team that fits this bill – and/or beat a team that’s had continual success against them like Minnesota, whose winning streak is now up to six in a row, or Iowa, who are 9-1 in their last ten meetings.
I’m sick of watching Nebraska football take on a program like this – one that finishes the game and in the post-game press conference, mentions “physicality” or “culture” as reasons for the win, where all you can do is nod along and shrug. A loss where you can’t argue against it. Where the game starts, and within a few drives, you realize that everything was a house of cards; they weren’t overcoming anything or showing anything different. They were just getting by against lesser teams, before they played a team – a program – like Minnesota, who put them into a locker like they always do.
And we’re sure that won’t happen against any of the final five opponents?
Northwestern plays the exact type of football that has haunted the Nebraska program for years. They’d love to drag them down into the mud.
USC’s offense, littered with dumb mistakes in their loss to Notre Dame, still has the ability to score on any given play, from any spot on the field.
UCLA has won three games in a row this season and beat Nebraska a year ago.
Penn State showed toughness in its loss to Iowa and still has one of the most talented rosters in the sport.
And Iowa is Iowa.
They might find a win against one of those five teams, but anything more than that would surprise me at this point. As I see it, a 5-7 finish is more likely now than 7-5 or 8-4. And don’t even get me started on 9-3 or 10-2.
Nebraska faced a similar situation in 2024. Following the loss to UCLA at the start of November, the team had reached a breaking point. After a 5-1 start, they had lost three games in a row, the last one against the Bruins was easily the most unforgivable.
Changes were made. Dana Holgorsen joined the staff and was named offensive coordinator. Marcus Satterfield was re-assigned* to tight ends coach. Phil Snow was added as an additional set of eyes on the defensive staff. And while Nebraska only went 1-2 in its final three regular-season games, the operation looked a little better on offense against USC before exploding in the sixth win of the season against Wisconsin.
*Oddly enough, his position group might be the most impressive and consistent across the entire team this season!
Matt Rhule looked that moment directly in the eye and made a massive change. A change that was necessary. We’d never seen something like it in Lincoln.
That same week arrives, if a bit earlier, in 2025. There’s no obvious change to be made, unless you believe in firing the offensive line coach (no chance in hell) or benching the quarterback and rolling out a different type of offense (ditto). There’s no quick fix coming. The overall operation will just have to be better.
Can it be? Sure. Do I need to see it before I believe it?
Absolutely.
Agree or disagree, if you have a comment for Josh, send him an email: joshpeterson.huskermax@gmail.com.
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
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