The Nebraska Legislature on Friday approved a 12-week abortion ban and restrictions on sex change procedures for children in a move so contentious that lawmakers on both sides have said they may be unable to work together in the future.
Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill with both measures. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill and met with various lawmakers to shore up support, has promised to sign it into law.
The mood in the Nebraska Capitol has been volatile since lawmakers on Tuesday advanced by a single vote the hybrid measure that ties together restrictions that Republicans across the U.S. have been pushing. Nebraska’s lawmakers have traded insults and promises of retribution, while protesters have loudly voiced their displeasure.
The bill also would prevent transgender people under 19 from receiving any sex change surgery. The state’s chief medical officer — a political appointee who is currently an ear, nose and throat doctor — would set rules for puberty blockers and hormone therapies. There would be some exceptions for minors who were already receiving treatment before the ban was enacted.
At least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning transgender procedures, hormones and therapies for minors, and proposals are pending before the governors of Texas and Missouri. Medical groups and advocates say such restrictions are further marginalizing transgender youth and threatening their health.
The unicameral Nebraska Legislature has passed a bill combining a 12-week abortion ban with a ban on sex change procedures for minors, in a move that some speculate to be retaliation against ardent opponent Machaela Cavanaugh for filibustering every bill to pass through the chamber this legislative session. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh led an effort to filibuster nearly every bill this session — even ones she supported — to protest the proposed restrictions on sex changes. She railed against conservatives who voted for the hybrid bill and warned that people, medical professionals and businesses will leave the state over it.
Cavanaugh responded that it would “cost” conservatives with just days left in the session for lawmakers to pass bills.
“I am going to take all of the time. Every single, solitary minute of it to make sure the speaker has to decide what actually gets scheduled in these last handful of days,” she said.
Because an emergency clause is attached to the bill, it will take effect once the governor signs it.
