Connect with us

Nebraska

Nebraska abortion ballot measure passes in 2024 election

Published

on

Nebraska abortion ballot measure passes in 2024 election


Amid the 2024 election, a Nebraska abortion ballot measure passed on Tuesday that enshrines the state’s current ban on abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy in the state constitution.

What Was Abortion Access Like in Nebraska?

Nebraska was one of several other states voting on constitutional amendments to protect reproductive rights this election cycle, as abortion in the state is currently banned after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Last year, the state enacted a law prohibiting abortion starting at 12 weeks of pregnancy except in medical emergencies or when pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest.

Abortion has been a key issue amid this year’s election since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, as many Republican-controlled states have put abortion restrictions into effect, with 21 states banning or restricting the medical practice at every stage of pregnancy.

However, most Democratic states have laws or executive orders in place to protect access. Voters in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Vermont and Arizona have taken steps to adopt similar ballot measures, hoping to put the abortion issue directly before voters.

Advertisement
Abortion rights activists protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on June 24. Nebraska’s abortion ballot measure that prohibits abortions after the first trimester with some exceptions has passed on Tuesday.

Aashish Kiphayet

What Is Initiative 439 and Initiative 434?

There were two abortion-related ballot measures in which voters could either enshrine abortion access with Initiative 439 or open the door for further restrictions with Initiative 434.

Initiative 439 would allow abortions until fetal viability—usually around 20 to 24 weeks, or when needed to protect the life or health of a pregnant woman, without interference from the state. The amendment is similar to abortion-rights measures going before voters in other states.

Meanwhile, Initiative 434 would amend the state constitution to prohibit abortion in the second and third trimesters or after 12 weeks—with some exceptions. It is supported by Nebraska Right to Life, an anti-abortion rights group. While this measure would not cause major changes at the ground level, it might make it harder to challenge the state’s abortion law and could open the door for further restrictions.

By How Much Did the Abortion Measure Pass?

The abortion measure, Initiative 434, passed with 55.3 percent of voters for the measure with 496,626 votes, according to NBC News.

Initiative 439, which would have established a right to abortion until fetal viability failed, with 51.2 percent or 460,380 votes against the measure and only 48.8 percent or 439,136 votes for the measure.

Advertisement

According to the Nebraska Constitution, the winning measure with the most votes shall become law “as to all conflicting provisions.” State law says the governor shall proclaim which provision is paramount.

Since Initiative 434 passed, a court could determine that it conflicts with the abortion-rights measure only in the second and third trimesters, Brandon Johnson, an assistant law professor at the University of Nebraska, previously told the Associated Press.

That could create a scenario where abortion is elevated as a fundamental right during the first trimester but restricted in the second and third.

However, despite the passage of the measure, lawsuits could soon follow Tuesday’s decision as abortion rights continue to be a divided issue across the country.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Nebraska

Detective speaks out about Nebraska teen’s 1969 murder case

Published

on

Detective speaks out about Nebraska teen’s 1969 murder case


(WOWT) – Stabbed at least a dozen times, the body of 17-year-old Mary Kay Heese was discovered along a country road in 1969.

In an update to an exclusive First Alert 6 investigation, the detective who helped solve the decades-long cold case is speaking out.

“It’s been a dark cloud over Wahoo for a long time. There’s a lot of people who remember that,” Saunders County Attorney Investigator Ted Green said.

For nine years, Detective Green has learned much about the victim’s life and how it came to an end.

Advertisement

“She fought some, there was a struggle,” Green said.

The suspect, Joseph Ambroz, was 22 years old in 1969 and paroled from prison for about six months when he came to live with his mom in Wahoo.

Joseph Ambroz(Kay County Sheriff’s Office)

“I still don’t understand how she got in the car because that wasn’t Mary Kay’s personality,” Kathy Tull, the victim’s cousin, said in an interview.

Detective Green believes a party grove was the destination.

“And she’s just thinking its ok a couple of guys I know from the restaurant and we’re going out for a ride,” Green said.

Advertisement

Green reveals that Mary Kay likely got in the car with the suspect and another young man who was with them.

“He committed suicide in 77 so if he wasn’t an active participant or just didn’t realize what was going to happened all of a sudden it just happened,” Green said.

A tip line set up by the victim’s cousin led to a lake west of Wahoo where the suspect’s car may have been dumped in 1969 where dive teams found a large metal object.

“It’s everybody’s hope the golden nugget you hope had been there. But there’s evidence I can’t discuss that there’s something there,” Green said.

Evidence that remains in the lake because Green got estimates of up to $400 to pull it from the muddy, murky water.

Advertisement

But Green said he has plenty more evidence, including an autopsy after exhuming the body of the victim with a forensic pathologist from the Offutt Military Identification Lab adding expertise.

“There’s DNA available, its just I’ve got to go off of we have available to us,” Green said.

Though forensics will play a part in this case, it appears solved the old-fashioned way.

“This is a case that didn’t have anything glaring but had small pieces along the way. This is all gum shoe, all gum shoe work,” Green said.

Green would not respond when asked if he has found a murder weapon.

Advertisement

The 1969 murder of a small town high school Junior led to hundreds of interviews and tips over 55 years, and the investigation narrowed from ten suspects to one.

“Well been able to exclude everybody mentioned as a suspect way back when except for this guy,” Green said.

Even though the suspect is in custody, the case is not closed.

If you have information on the murder of Mary Kay Hesse, call the Saunders County Attorney’s Office at 402-443-5613.

Advertisement

Get the first alert on breaking news and real-time updates. Sign up for First Alert 6 email alerts.



Source link

Continue Reading

Nebraska

Seven behavioral health care providers tapped for new program that helps Nebraskans in crisis • Nebraska Examiner

Published

on

Seven behavioral health care providers tapped for new program that helps Nebraskans in crisis • Nebraska Examiner


LINCOLN — Seven behavioral health care providers have been selected to launch a new certification program designed to improve mental health and substance use care across the state — and provide around-the-clock crisis help for Nebraskans.

Called the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics initiative, the effort has been described as “transformational.” To start, it will involve: CenterPointe, Community Alliance, Heartland Counseling Services, Heartland Family Services, Lutheran Family Services, South Central Behavioral Health Services and The Well.

The CenterPointe Campus for Health and Well Being, recently completed in Lincoln. (Courtesy of Clark & Enersen)

“This is a significant step for Nebraska,” said Matt Ahern, interim director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid and Long-Term Care division. “We’re really excited about this model because it incentivizes a more integrated care — a whole person approach rather than segmenting behavioral health from physical health and everything else happening in a person’s life.”

Advertisement

Serves all

Selection of providers, announced Wednesday, follows passage last year of Legislative Bill 276, the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Act, sponsored by State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln and signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen. 

This is a monumental step toward building healthier and stronger communities.

Advertisement

– State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln

CCBHCs emerged from the Excellence in Mental Health Act, a federal law signed in 2014 to improve the nation’s mental health system. The model ensures that clinics provide a wide array of services, such as crisis response, medication management, psychotherapy and community and peer support.

Advertisement

In return, providers are allowed to participate in a restructured payment model that better accounts for costs associated with services, according to a DHHS news release. Certified clinics are required to serve anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use, regardless of their ability to pay, place of residence or age. 

Over the next year, the Nebraska DHHS divisions of Behavioral Health and Medicaid and Long-Term Care will work with the seven provider organizations to develop services needed to meet the state requirements and federal criteria determined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 

Programs are to be up and running by January 2026.

“The CCBHC model allows a clinic to truly focus on delivering the quality of care and breadth of services a person needs,” said Thomas Janousek, director of DHHS Behavioral Health. “It focuses on reducing administrative barriers for providers which ultimately results in better care for the individuals it serves.”

Advertisement

‘No-brainer’

By launching the initiative, Wishart said, the state is “transforming” the way Nebraskans access mental health and substance abuse care, in a coordinated and comprehensive way that fills service gaps.

“This is a monumental step toward building healthier and stronger communities,” she said Wednesday.

Wishart has said she expects the CCBHCs to reduce emergency room visits and incarcerations. Data from other states that have implemented such clinics have shown reductions in law enforcement involvement and hospital usage, state officials have said.

Pillen has called the legislation a “no-brainer” for Nebraska. His testimony at a legislative hearing in early 2023 surprised some, as the Republican governor stepped across the political aisle to speak on behalf of a bill introduced by a Democrat, Wishart. 

Advertisement

At the time, Pillen said that Nebraskans “must come together to solve tough problems.”

After completing the certification program, a provider is to be recognized as a CCBHC, offering integrated physical and behavioral health services to Nebraska families. Services are to include: around-the-clock crisis support; easy access to mental health and substance use care; tailored treatment plans; specialized care for veterans and military personnel; peer support; comprehensive psychiatric rehabilitation.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Advertisement



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Nebraska

Nebraska votes against second ballot measure that would have introduced new abortion protections

Published

on

Nebraska votes against second ballot measure that would have introduced new abortion protections


Scripps News and Decision Desk HQ project voters in Nebraska will not pass a measure that would have enshrined stronger abortion protections in the state constitution.

Nebraska’s Initiative 439 would have amended the state’s constitution to provide access to abortion until fetal viability, which is at the end of the second trimester around 24 weeks. It would have also included life of the mother exceptions and very clearly stated that it’s up to the practitioner to determine viability.

The measure narrowly failed. Counting of ballots continued for weeks after election night.

The measure, along with Nebraska Initiative 434, were both on Nebraska’s ballot in the November election.

Advertisement

RELATED STORY | Nebraska votes to ban abortion after first trimester

Voters passed Initiative 434, which bans abortion after the first trimester. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest.

Nebraska law will continue to ban abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. That law went into effect in June of 2023. It includes exceptions for saving the life or health of the mother and for rape or incest.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending