After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Hostile

Nebraska

Nebraska is enforcing a 12-week abortion ban, with limited exceptions. On November 5,  2024, Nebraskans voted to enshrine the 12-week ban in the state constitution and rejected an amendment that would have protected abortion until viability.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, 12-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, 22-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, Viability
  • Telemedicine Ban

Bans Enjoined

  • Method Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Mandatory Ultrasound Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Notification Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Facility Requirements
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

State Protections

Nebraska law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion. To the contrary, Nebraska’s policy preference to ban abortion to the fullest extent of the law.1 In November 2024, voters rejected the Right to Abortion Constitutional Amendment,2 and passed a constitutional amendment3 which prohibits abortion care after the first trimester, with limited exceptions.

Restrictions

Nebraska law generally prohibits abortion at twelve weeks LMP,4 twenty weeks post-fertilization,5 and after viability.6

In 2020, Nebraska banned D&E procedures.7 Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period after receiving biased counseling,8 and, if utilized have an ultrasound at least one hour before an abortion.9 Nebraska requires that physicians be physically present in the same room with a pregnant person when providing all abortion care, including medication abortions.10 Physicians that provide abortion care after the first trimester must certify in writing the reason for the abortion within the pregnant person’s medical record.11 Nebraska law requires that a parent, legal guardian,12 or judge13 consent to a minor’s abortion. Nebraska also limits public funding for,14 and private insurance coverage of, abortion.15

Nebraska’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities16 and reporting.17 Nebraska law restricts the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians18 and restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care.19 Providers who violate Nebraska’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.20

Historical Restrictions

Nebraska repealed its pre-Roe ban in 1973.21 Nebraska prohibits D&X procedures, although the U.S. Supreme Court held that the statute is unconstitutional.22

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Nebraska is enforcing a 12-week abortion ban, with limited exceptions, after Nebraskans voted to enshrine the 12-week ban in the state constitution.

  1. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-325(2) (“[T]he members of the Legislature expressly deplore the destruction of the unborn human lives which has and will occur in Nebraska as a consequence of the United States Supreme Court’s decision on abortion of January 22, 1973.”). ↩︎
  2. Neb. Sec. of State, Informational Pamphlet on Initiative and Referendum Measures Appearing on the 2024 General Election Ballot, Initiative Measure 439, https://sos.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/elections/2024/2024%20Ballot%20Measures%20Pamphlet.pdf  (proposing to amend the state’s constitution to recognize abortion up to viability); Neb. Sec. of State, 2024 Election Results, https://electionresults.nebraska.gov/resultsSW.aspx?text=Race&type=PA&map=CTY. ↩︎
  3. Neb. Sec. of State, Informational Pamphlet on Initiative and Referendum Measures Appearing on the 2024 General Election Ballot, Initiative Measure 434, https://sos.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/elections/2024/2024%20Ballot%20Measures%20Pamphlet.pdf; Neb. Const. art. 1, § 31. ↩︎
  4. Neb. Const. art. 1, § 31 (making an exception for abortion care necessitated by a medical emergency or where the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest); Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-6915(2); see also Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Sarah Traxler v. Hilgers, No. CI 23-2820 (Neb. Dist. Ct. Aug. 11, 2023) (dismissing Plaintiffs’ challenge to the 12-week ban based on the single subject rule), aff’d, 9 N.W.3d 604 (Neb. July 26, 2024). ↩︎
  5. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-3,106 (providing exceptions for care necessitated by a medical emergency or to preserve the life of the fetus). ↩︎
  6. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-329 (providing an exception to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person). ↩︎
  7. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-347(1); 28-326. ↩︎
  8. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-327(1). ↩︎
  9. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-327(2). ↩︎
  10. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-335. ↩︎
  11. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-6916. ↩︎
  12. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-6902 (requiring written, notarized consent of both the pregnant person and a parent or guardian). ↩︎
  13. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 71-6903; 71-6904. ↩︎
  14. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 71-7606(3); 71-705; 44-1615.01. ↩︎
  15. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-8403. ↩︎
  16. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 71-416; 175 Neb. Admin. Code §§ 7-001; 7-003. ↩︎
  17. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-343. ↩︎
  18. Neb. Rev. Stat.  § 28-335(1). ↩︎
  19. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-335(2). ↩︎
  20. See, e.g., Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-327.04 (civil cause of action for professional negligence related to abortion care); 28-3,108 (criminal penalties); 71-6907 (civil penalties related to abortion care). ↩︎
  21. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-404, 28-405 (1943), repealed by 1973 Neb. Laws 806. ↩︎
  22. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-328; Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000). ↩︎