Competing abortion ballot initiatives in Nebraska raise more than $13M

Organizers of competing abortion questions on the Nov. 5 Nebraska ballot have raised more than $13 million to get their messages out, including more than $5 million from Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and his mother.

One measure that appears on the ballot as Initiative 439 would guarantee in the Nebraska Constitution the right to an abortion “until fetal viability … or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”

The other, Initiative 434, would enshrine the state’s 12-week abortion ban in the state constitution.

The influx of cash into the campaigns reflects the deep nexus of political, moral and legal arguments about an issue that has intensified since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturned the 1972 Roe v. Wade decision and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, returning to each state the power to regulate abortion.

Initiative 434 was put forward by the group Protect Women and Children. The coalition promoting the measure includes the Catholic Conference, Nebraska Right to Life, and the Nebraska Family Alliance.

Initiative 439 was put forward by the coalition Protect Our Rights, which includes the ACLU of Nebraska, the Women’s Fund of Omaha, Nebraska Appleseed, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, and the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table.

Initiative 434 has raised $7.1 million, while Initiative 439 has raised $6.2 million.

The largest donor to Initiative 434 has been Marlene Ricketts, the mother of Pete Ricketts, who has given $4 million, according to filings with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. She is the wife of billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade. Pete Ricketts has given $1.1 million to Initiative 434. The money from the Rickettses represents some 72% of all donations to the campaign. 

Lincoln’s Peed family, which supports Republican issues and candidates, donated another $2 million.

The largest donations to Initiative 439, according to documents made available by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, have been $893,000 from Planned Parenthood and $737,000 from the ACLU.

Much of the money on both sides is being spent on TV and social media ads. One of the Initiative 434 ads says that the opposing measure would allow “men to force horrific decisions on pregnant women.” One of the 439 ads says that the opposing measure is “funded by politicians and special interests to trick you.” 

A recent poll from Emerson College and Midwest Newsroom showed how closely contested the issue is. Of the registered Nebraska voters surveyed, 46% supported Initiative 434 and 41% opposed it. On Initiative 439, 44% supported the measure and 40% opposed it.

A poll by the Pew Research Center showed that 50% of Nebraska adults approved abortion access in almost all cases, while 46% thought it should be illegal in almost all cases.

According to the independent health policy group KFF, 10 states will have abortion questions on the ballot in 2024. But Nebraska is the only state where voters will have a choice between two opposing abortion measures.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said the measure that gets the most votes will become law.

Nebraska lawmakers in 2023 changed the statutory limit for abortions from 20 weeks’ gestation to 12 weeks. Initiative 434 would allow lawmakers to change the limit again.

The Nebraska Supreme Court earlier this year upheld the law, ruling that Nebraska lawmakers did not violate the state constitution by passing the measure, which dealt with multiple unrelated subjects. The state law combined the 12-week abortion ban with a measure banning gender-affirming care for minors; critics argued those were two distinct subjects and therefore the state law was unconstitutional.

The court ruled the law that included the 12-week abortion ban was constitutional because it dealt broadly with medical care.