Prevents Title X money from going to abortion providers
By Dave Andrusko
Pro-life Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts
Last week, in the middle of an intense fight over the budget which was stalled in the state Senate, pro-life Gov. Pete Ricketts wrote, “Senators need to lay their differences aside and work together to get these budget adjustments done with the pro-life language.”
The language the governor was referring to would prevent $2 million in Title X funds from going to any group that “performs, assists with the performance of, provides directive counseling in favor of, or refers for abortion.”
That provision was enough to persuade pro-abortion lawmakers to hold up the main $8.8 billion budget bill (LB 944).
However according to the Omaha World-Herald’s Emily Nitcher and Martha Stoddard “After days of negotiations, Nebraska lawmakers struck a deal to advance the main budget bill to the final round of debate.”
The deal worked out by lawmakers most likely means that Planned Parenthood of the Heartland will be excluded from Title X funds for a while, which prompted fierce opposition from the senators who ultimately voted against moving the budget bill forward.
Entities that provide abortion services could qualify for funds only if their Title X services are legally, physically and financially separated from their abortion services. …
Meg Mikolajczyk, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said she does not believe Planned Parenthood could continue getting Title X funds under the compromise.
Nebraska Right to Life, NRLC’s state affiliate, expressed its support for the Scheer Amendment to LB 944 which passed the Nebraska Legislature Wednesday night on a 40 to 4 vote.
The Scheer Amendment “provided a way to move pro-life language forward in the state budget,” said Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life. “Thanks to Gov. Pete Ricketts, Sen. Mike Hilgers, Sen. Dan Watermeier, and Speaker Jim Scheer for ensuring that Title X funding will remain completely separate from any abortion activity.”
Schmit-Albin added that the clause in the amendment that allows for referrals for “medical emergency” will be “watched via our Nebraska Abortion Reporting Statistics.”
“If we see a major uptick in abortions done for medical emergency reasons that might indicate abuse of the law with regard to referrals which are legal for medical emergencies.”
According to the 2016 Nebraska Abortion Statistics, 15 abortions were performed for medical necessity reasons.