Nebraska

Nebraska Supreme Court rejects two lawsuits challenging abortion-rights petition • Nebraska Examiner

Published

2 years ago

August 30, 2024

Nebraska Supreme Court rejects two lawsuits challenging abortion-rights petition • Nebraska Examiner

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:15 p.m. to reflect the latest court action.

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court on Thursday rejected fast-tracking a pair of lawsuits seeking to remove an abortion-rights constitutional amendment from the fall ballot.

Time is short for either effort, one from a Douglas County woman funded by the socially conservative Thomas More Society and one backed by local abortion opponents.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen has until Sept. 13 to finalize the November general election ballot. He announced on Aug. 23 that the measure qualified for the ballot.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

The second lawsuit was filed Wednesday, hours after the Nebraska Supreme Court declined to take up the first. Attorneys for the Douglas County woman, Carolyn LaGreca, tried to correct a mistake on the first lawsuit and refiled it. But the court again rejected the case Thursday.

In the second lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Dr. Catherine Brooks, a Lincoln neonatologist, asked the court to remove the Protect the Right to Abortion measure from the ballot.

Criticizes proposal’s language

The proposed abortion-rights amendment would codify a right to abortion in the Nebraska Constitution until “fetal viability,” as determined by a health care provider, with later exceptions for the mother’s health.

Brooks was the public face of 30-plus medical providers who filed a complaint Monday with Evnen’s office, asking him to administratively reconsider his decision that the measure had legally qualified for the ballot.

In a statement Thursday from her attorney, Brenna Grasz, Brooks criticized the abortion amendment for redefining the viability standard by “extending the meaning into the late stages of pregnancy.” She called the proposal’s language “subjective, confusing and unworkable.”

“It subjects women and medical professionals to vague, unscientific standards, and dangerously expands the scope of abortion practice,” Brooks said.

She said the measure expands who decides viability to a person’s “health care practitioner” and called that “unsafe.” Non-physicians should not be making such determinations “outside the scope of their education, training, and experience,” she said.

Her lawsuit largely mirrored what the complaint letter argued, that the measure put forward by Protect Our Rights contains more than one subject, in violation of a state constitutional rule that ballot measures can cover only a single subject.

It argued that the petition seeks to create a new constitutional right to an abortion at the same time it seeks to define fetal viability and create an exception for a woman’s health.

The filing repeated anti-abortion criticism of the initiative that it also seeks to restrict the state’s ability to legislate and regulate abortion. It also redefines legal terms in ways the lawsuit describes as problematic.

“The Initiative violates this requirement by containing multiple proposals that are dissimilar, unrelated, and separate purposes,” the lawsuit said. “These separate purposes also lack a natural and necessary connection.”

No immediate comment from either side

Protect Our Rights had no immediate comment about the latest lawsuit or the Court’s action.

Allie Berry, campaign manager for Protect Our Rights, has said abortion opponents were “doing everything in their power to undermine the process and lay the groundwork for their ultimate goal: a total abortion ban.”

Protect Our Rights, abortion-rights campaign, hosts a news conference — Ashlei Spivey of the Protect Our Rights petition effort announces her abortion-rights group collected a record 207,000 signatures. July 3, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

The group has noted that Evnen certified the measure and said petition organizers had “followed the appropriate processes every step of the way.” Supporters said that the measure is legal and that voters deserve a say on reproductive health.

Brooks’ lawsuit asked the Supreme Court to let it skip the step of going through District Court because time is short, similar to the appeal made in a separate lawsuit from a Douglas County woman that the court rejected for technical reasons.

That lawsuit was refiled Wednesday by the plaintiff’s attorney, who said he corrected a clerical error. The court reconsidered and still rejected it. Funded by the socially conservative Thomas More Society, this lawsuit argues similarly that the ballot measure seeking to cement abortion rights tries to do too much at once, in violation of the Nebraska Constitution.

The court decided not to take either case as a so-called “original action.” Notes on the case files said the two applications were “not supported by affidavit or positively-verified petition.”

If the ballot measure goes forward, Nebraska would be the first state since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade to have competing abortion-related constitutional amendments on the same ballot.

Abortion opponents are supporting a measure that would constitutionally limit abortion to the first trimester of pregnancy and still let the Legislature pass stricter bans than contained in current law.

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What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday

Published

48 minutes ago

March 27, 2026

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What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday

Iowa coach Ben McCollum met with the media following his team’s 77-71 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Sweet 16. The Cornhuskers led by three at the half but Iowa was able to outscore Nebraska 34-25 in the second half.

Pryce Sandfort led all scorers with 25 points while shooting 8 of 13 from the field and 6 of 10 from the 3-point line. Bennett Stirtz led the Hawkeyes with 20 points and played for all 40 minutes.

Iowa shot 52% (27-52) from the floor, 43% (13-30) from beyond the arc and 83% (10-12) from the free throw line. Nebraska struggled shooting 41% (24-58) from the field, 34% (13-38) from the 3-point line and 91% (10-11) from the charity stripe.

The Hawkeyes’ head coach acknowledged that his team had a poor start but a great finish and said that his team will need to play better to advance beyond the Elite Eight.

Yeah, I think to start we weren’t fantastic to start. They had an elite game plan to start. They played with elite pace. They adjusted their defense quite a bit. I think a lot of people will talk about the rivalry. I was around it when I was in Iowa, you know, and grew up in Iowa and understand the rivalry and whatnot. It’s nice to have — I guess if you would a call it rival that runs such a class program.
I think Coach Hoiberg, they have got great kids. They completely turned everything around from the previous season, and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything. I have the utmost respect for them, all their players, and especially Coach Hoiberg. Heck of a season. I know it’s no consolation, but we still want to beat ’em every time and they want to beat us every time.
But from and internal perspective, there’s not a lot of bad blood there. It’s actually a lot of respect. I was really pleased with our second-half performance. I thought we actually decided we were going to try — not try. They had a lot to do with it, but kind of. Yeah, they’re smiling over there because they saw me break my marker.
And I thought our kids did a good job of executing offensively in both halves. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that we could score, and you saw the result of that. We didn’t defend. But we were able to score, so we were able to stay in the game long enough and then get enough stops and had some big possessions down the stretch. Really good program win for everybody, coaches, managers, everybody included.

Iowa advances to the Elite Eight with the victory. Nebraska’s season ends with a record of 28-7.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: What Iowa coach Ben McCollum said after defeating Nebraska on Thursday

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Nebraska

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen appoints Antonio Gomez to Racing and Gaming Commission

Published

13 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen appoints Antonio Gomez to Racing and Gaming Commission

LINCOLN, Neb — Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed Antonio Gomez of Jackson to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, adding a longtime Siouxland business leader and public servant to the panel.

Commission members serve four-year terms and are subject to approval by the Nebraska Legislature.

Gomez launched Gomez Pallets in South Sioux City in 1983. He has since retired from daily operations, but last year the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce recognized him with the W. Edwards Deming Business Leadership and Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

Gomez previously served on the Nebraska Commission on Latino Americans from 1981 to 2002. He also served as a Dakota County commissioner for 12 years and was on the Foundation Board for Northeast Community College.

Gomez’s appointment is effective April 1.

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CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16

The Nebraska Cornhuskers will face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. This is the Huskers’ first Sweet 16 in program history, while Iowa is playing in its first Sweet 16 since 1999.

Nebraska defeated Vanderbilt 74-72 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa advanced after beating the defending national champion, the Florida Gators, 73-72.

CBS Sports reporter Isaac Trotter broke down Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup. Trotter started by looking at the two previous matchups in this series.

These teams have played twice. Iowa won at home in a 57-52 rockfight. Nebraska returned the favor by winning at home, 84-75 in overtime, in another to-the-death brawl.

It’s no secret that Nebraska’s defense caused significant problems for the Iowa offense in the second game, and if the Hawkeyes are going to win the rubber match, Trotter believes that turnovers will be the key.

There are no secrets in the rubber match. Nebraska’s no-middle defense has given Iowa real problems both times. The Hawkeyes turned it over 20% of the time in Game 1 and 26% of the time in Game 2. That can’t happen in the third encounter.

CBS Sports believes that Iowa has the best player on the floor in Bennett Stirtz, but Trotter also believes that Nebraska’s defense is just too much in the end for Iowa.

Iowa has the best player on the floor, Bennett Stirtz, and can hurt Nebraska on the glass, but the Huskers get the nod because of this pick-and-roll defense. You have to be able to guard ball screens effectively to shut down Iowa, and Nebraska has been an elite pick-and-roll defense, rating in the 99th percentile nationally, per Synergy.

In the end, Trotter selected Nebraska as his pick. Should the Huskers advance to the Elite Eight, Nebraska would play the winner of the Illinois-Houston game. Nebraska-Iowa play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT on TBS.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: CBS Sports predicts Nebraska-Iowa basketball in the Sweet 16

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