A Nebraska law that combined abortion restrictions with another measure to limit gender-affirming health care for minors does not violate a state constitutional amendment requiring bills to stick to a single subject, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday. The state’s high court acknowledged in its ruling that abortion and gender-affirming care “are distinct types of medical care,” but the law does not violate Nebraska’s single-subject rule because both abortion and transgender health fall under the subject of medical care. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union representing Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.
The high court rejected arguments by ACLU attorneys which argued the passed last year violates Nebraska’s single subject rule. Republican lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature had originally proposed separate bills: An abortion ban at about and a bill restricting gender-affirming treatment for minors. The GOP-dominated Legislature to the existing gender-affirming care bill only after the six-week ban failed to defeat a filibuster.
The combination law was the Nebraska Legislature’s most controversial in the 2023 session, and its gender-affirming care restrictions triggered an in which a handful of lawmakers sought to block every bill for the duration of that session — even ones they supported — in an effort to stymie it. A district judge last August, and the ACLU . In arguments before the high c.