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March 6, 2024Lincoln, NE |  By: AP

NE Supreme Court skeptic about hybrid abortion/gender-affirming care law

Members of the Nebraska Supreme Court appeared to meet with skepticism a state lawyer’s defense of a new law that combines a 12-week abortion ban with another measure to limit gender-affirming health care for minors.

Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton argued Tuesday that the hybrid law does not violate a state constitutional requirement that legislative bills stick to a single subject. But he went further, stating that the case is not one the high court should rule on because it is politically charged and lawmaking is within the sole purview of the Legislature.

The arguments came in a lawsuit brought last year by the American Civil Liberties Union representing Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, contending that the hybrid law violates the one-subject rule. Lawmakers added the abortion ban to an existing bill dealing with gender-related care only after a proposed six-week abortion ban failed to defeat a filibuster.