Judge Upholds Nebraska Law Banning Abortion at 12 Weeks, Transgender Mutilation of Children

Matt Lamb : Aug 14, 2023
LifeSiteNews.com

Planned Parenthood called the ruling "infuriating."

(Lancaster County, NE) — [LifeSiteNews.com] Nebraska can enforce its law against abortions after 12 weeks and protect minors from surgical and chemical mutilation, a state judge ruled recently. (Image: Pixabay)

District Court Judge Lori Maret upheld Legislative Bill 574 which prohibits "gender-altering surgery" for minors, such as mastectomies and genital surgeries, while requiring the state's chief medical officer—Dr. Timothy Tesmer, an appointee of Governor Jim Pillen—to issue regulations on the use of transgender drugs.

There are some exceptions in the bill, such as allowing the use of unscientific and dangerous drugs by gender-confused teens already taking them to continue.

The law also protects preborn babies from elective abortions at 12 weeks' gestation, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.

Judge Maret's August 11 ruling also tossed Planned Parenthood's medical officer from the case, concluding Dr. Sarah Traxler's claim she will suffer injury is only "speculative." An appeal of the judge's ruling is expected, but the laws can go into effect while the case proceeds.

Planned Parenthood and the ACLU tried to get the legislation blocked, partially because the leftist groups claimed the law violated the state constitution's requirement that laws be single-issue. Yet Planned Parenthood conceded that the law dealt on the whole with healthcare.

The abortion giant has standing, unlike Traxler, because of the "direct economic injury" it will "suffer" if it cannot abort babies, the judge ruled. Dr. Traxler argued that she also had standing because she would lose her medical license if she broke the law. However, she never proved that she normally commits abortions after 12 weeks, the judge noted.

The law will not end abortion in Nebraska, though it could save a few hundred lives, according to the state's 2021 report on abortion.

Gov. Pillen praised the ruling. "I am grateful for the court's thorough decision," he said, as reported by the Associated Press. "I was proud to sign into law a measure that protects kids and defends the unborn, and I am pleased that it has been upheld"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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