Nebraska voters will choose between two competing abortion measures to either expand abortion rights or limit them to the current 12-week ban.
Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced Friday that the rival initiatives each gathered enough signatures to get on the November ballot, making Nebraska the first state to carry competing abortion amendments on the same ballot since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Nebraska also becomes the last of several states to put an abortion measure on the November ballot. Others include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana Nevada and South Dakota.
In Nebraska, organizers of the competing efforts announced last month that they turned in far more signatures than the approximately 123,000 required.
One of the measures would write into the constitution the current 12-week ban, with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the pregnant woman. Organizers said they submitted more than 205,000 signatures.
The other initiatives would enshrine in the state constitution the right to have an abortion until viability or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman. Organizers said they submitted more than 207,000 signatures.
Evnen said his office validated more than 136,000 signatures for both proposals.
It’s possible voters could end up approving both measures, but because they’re competing and therefore cannot both be enshrined in the constitution, the one that gets the most “for” votes will be the one adopted, Evnen said.