LINCOLN — While the debate over the right to abortion rages on the national stage and advocates prepare for battle at the state level, dozens of local governments have passed ordinances seeking to outlaw abortion locally, including two in Nebraska.

The city of Blue Hill (population roughly 900) and the village of Hayes Center (home to about 200) passed ordinances in April. Two more — the city of Curtis and the village of Dunning — have taken initial votes on their own.

These motions in Nebraska appear to be inspired by the arguments taking place in Mississippi, as they have requested the Supreme Court overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions.

It remains to be seen how the local ordinances will fit into the bigger picture of potentially major state legislation in the coming year.

None of the Nebraska jurisdictions that have enacted abortion bans have abortion providers within them, and none are positioned within counties that have abortion clinics.

As of 2017, 97% of Nebraska’s 93 counties had no clinics that provided abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a public policy institute that supports abortion rights.

If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, constitutional law professors still do not see an obvious avenue for enforcement of the local ordinances.

The two Nebraska ordinances vary in their details, but both hope to outlaw abortion locally and "aiding or abetting" abortion. They refer to abortion as "a murderous act of violence" and assert that “abortion providers and their enablers should be regarded as murderers and treated and ostracized as such.”

For the full article click HERE