Nebraska abortion rights groups collect enough signatures to advance ballot measure

A proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion care in the Nebraska Constitution moved closer to appearing on the ballot in November after a coalition of reproductive rights advocates on Wednesday submitted the required number of valid signatures to state officials.

Protect Our Rights, the group leading the ballot effort, announced it had collected the signatures of more than 207,000 registered voters — more than the approximately 123,000 it needed to submit before a Wednesday deadline to move forward with the process of getting its proposal on the ballot.

The group said it had also fulfilled a requirement under state law that the total includes at least 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties — which had been viewed as a particularly difficult hurdle for abortion rights groups in the state.

A disproportionate number of Democratic voters in solidly red Nebraska live in just a handful of counties surrounding Omaha and Lincoln; only two of the state’s 93 counties voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.

The Nebraska Secretary of State's office confirmed that the group surpassed the signature requirement. The office has until Aug. 12 to verify the submitted signatures and until Sept. 13 to certify the measure for the November ballot.

The measure proposed by Protect Our Rights — a coalition that includes Planned Parenthood North Central States and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska — would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution up until fetal viability, or about the 24th week of pregnancy. The proposal includes exceptions beyond that time for a woman’s life and health.

"As mothers, doctors, families, concerned citizens and people navigating pregnancy, we were united in the belief