Ballot initiative in Nebraska would prohibit abortion after 12 weeks
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=274556&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed into law a 12-week abortion ban and a ban on transgender surgery on minors on May 22, 2023. / Credit: Courtesy of the Office of the Governor of NebraskaCNA Staff, Mar 20, 2024 / 13:50 pm (CNA).A recently proposed pro-life ballot measure would make Nebraska the first state in the nation to offer unborn children protection in its constitution. State residents, meanwhile, may also be voting on a measure to enshrine broad abortion rights into the state's constitution, with both proposals potentially appearing on the ballot in November.The Protect Women and Children constitutional amendment, preliminary language of which was filed with the Nebraska secretary of state's office March 1, would "amend the Nebraska Constitution" to ensure that "unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters."The amendment would outlaw abortion after 12 weeks except in medical emergencies or when an unborn child is the result o...
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed into law a 12-week abortion ban and a ban on transgender surgery on minors on May 22, 2023. / Credit: Courtesy of the Office of the Governor of Nebraska
CNA Staff, Mar 20, 2024 / 13:50 pm (CNA).
A recently proposed pro-life ballot measure would make Nebraska the first state in the nation to offer unborn children protection in its constitution.
State residents, meanwhile, may also be voting on a measure to enshrine broad abortion rights into the state's constitution, with both proposals potentially appearing on the ballot in November.
The Protect Women and Children constitutional amendment, preliminary language of which was filed with the Nebraska secretary of state's office March 1, would "amend the Nebraska Constitution" to ensure that "unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters."
The amendment would outlaw abortion after 12 weeks except in medical emergencies or when an unborn child is the result of sexual assault or incest, the proposal says.
Sponsors for the measure did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal on Wednesday. The pro-life Nebraska Family Alliance, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that if passed the measure would make Nebraska "the first state in the nation to provide constitutional protection to preborn children in a state constitution."
The group said the proposal "would ensure that our existing pro-life laws remain in place while we continue working to create a culture of life that provides love and support to every mother and child." The state last year banned abortion at 12 weeks into pregnancy.
Jackie Ourada, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska secretary of state's office, confirmed to CNA on Wednesday that the measure had been received by the office but that "final language for the petition has not been submitted" yet.
The group has until July 3 to collect signatures from 10% of the number of registered voters in the state before submitting. The state requires signatures to come from 5% of registered voters in at least 38 counties.
The pro-life proposal comes as pro-abortion advocates attempt to pass their own constitutional amendment in the state, one that would offer broad protections for abortion throughout most of pregnancy.
The pro-abortion group Protect Our Rights filed language with the secretary of state last year that could see abortion on the ballot in November if petitioners can collect enough signatures.
The measure, if approved, would "amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide all persons the fundamental right to abortion without interference from the state or its political subdivisions until fetal viability."
Protect Our Rights is not publicly sharing the number of signatures it has obtained, but one abortion advocate told Nebraska Public Media this month that the campaign is "on track" to have enough signatures to qualify before the deadline.
Voters in seven other states around the country, meanwhile — California, Vermont, Michigan, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, and Ohio — have voted in favor of abortion since the Supreme Court's 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade, with residents either voting to expand abortion access or else voting down pro-life measures at the ballot box.
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275563&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday. This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. "The agency finds there is an immediate danger to th...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275562&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Oviedo Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes accused the government of focusing "in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church." / Credit: Archdiocese of OviedoACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA)."They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275559&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis meets with 300 priests taking part in the World Meeting of Parish Priests on May 2, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 12:41 pm (CNA).Pope Francis published a letter on Thursday addressed to all parish priests in the world with his advice for building a missionary Church in which all the baptized share in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel."Parish communities increasingly need to become places from which the baptized set out as missionary disciples and to which they return, full of joy, in order to share the wonders worked by the Lord through their witness," Pope Francis wrote in the letter published on May 2.The pope presented the letter to 300 priests participating in the Synod on Synodality's "World Meeting of Parish Priests" during an audience at the Vatican, saying that their meeting is "an opportunity to remember in my prayers all of the parish priests in the world to whom I address these words with great affection."P...