Nebraska Supreme Court upholds anti-trans care, anti-abortion law

Author: Trudy Ring

The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a state law banning most abortions after 12 weeks and restricting gender-affirming care for transgender people under 19.Under Nebraska Chief Medical Officer Timothy Tesmer’s regulations, patients under the age of 19 are required to undergo 40 “gender-identity-focused contact hours of therapy” before receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy. These counseling sessions are supposedly meant to “be clinically objective and non-biased,” but are explicitly required to “not merely affirm the patient’s beliefs.” Patients have to undergo further counseling while receiving the treatment.

Mental health counseling is always a part of gender-affirming care, but these regulations go far beyond what health professionals normally recommend and put up barriers to care, especially for low- and middle-income families, Abbi Swatsworth, executive director of OutNebraska, said in the press conference. OutNebraska has partnered with the Trans Youth Emergency Project to help Nebraska families access care, both in the state and elsewhere.

Planned Parenthood officials pointed out that abortion is still legal in Nebraska up to the 12th week of pregnancy. After that, an abortion may be performed only if the pregnancy results from rape or incest, or if it poses a threat to the pregnant person’s life. A coalition called Protect Our Rights is seeking to put a measure on the November ballot that would write abortion rights into the Nebraska Constitution. The coalition has gathered 207,000 petition signatures out of the 123,000 it needed to get the question on the ballot, and the secretary of state’s office is in the process of verifying them.

Anti-abortion activists are trying to put a measure on the ballot as well. It would amend the state constitution to ban abortions after the first trimester except in cases of a medical emergency or if the pregnancy was caused by incest or sexual assault.

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Trudy Ring