Nebraska’s new law limiting abortion and trans healthcare is argued before the state Supreme Court

Members of the Nebraska Supreme Court appeared to meet with skepticism a state lawyer’s defense of a new law that combines a 12-week abortion ban with another measure to limit gender-affirming health care for minors.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton argued Tuesday that the hybrid law does not violate a state constitutional requirement that legislative bills stick to a single subject. But he went further, stating that the case is not one the high court should rule on because it is politically charged and lawmaking is within the sole purview of the Legislature.

“Didn’t that ship sail about 150 years ago?” Chief Justice Mike Heavican retorted.

Hamilton stood firm, insisting the lawsuit presented a “nonjusticiable political question” and that the Legislature “self-polices” whether legislation holds to the state constitution’s single-subject rule.

“This court is allowed to review whether another branch has followed the constitutionally established process, isn’t it?” Justice John Freudenberg countered.

The arguments came in a lawsuit brought last year by the American Civil Liberties Union representing Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, contending that the hybrid law violates the one-subject rule. Lawmakers added the abortion ban to an existing bill dealing with gender-related care only after a proposed six-week abortion ban failed to defeat a filibuster.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Maryland Senate approves legal protections for gender-affirming care