Like many states who have responded to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the ruling of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, Nebraska has put abortion on the chopping block in this year’s legislative session.
Namely, Republican Sen. Joni Albrecht introduced Legislative Bill 626 — dubbed the “Nebraska Heartbeat Act” — earlier this year. If passed, the bill would prohibit most abortions in Nebraska “once embryonic cardiac activity can be detected via ultrasound,” which happens around six weeks of pregnancy.
Global reproductive health organization ANSIRH reports that one in three people learn that they are pregnant after six weeks’ gestation.
Despite uproarious opposition from pro-abortion advocates in Nebraska, the bill has advanced and will soon reach the Unicameral floor for debate.
But abortion advocates are far from giving up the fight.
Nebraska’s faith leaders show support for reproductive freedom
Over 120 faith leaders across five religious faiths have come together to oppose the bill. The clergy members all endorsed a letter, which was printed as an ad in both the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star on February 26.
The initiative was led by Rev. Debra McKnight, the Founding Pastor of Urban Abbey, a nonprofit coffee shop, bookstore, and progressive, inclusive United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska.
“When we all saw each other at the Capitol to testify [against the abortion ban bill] we decided we needed to get more organized,” McKnight said about her fellow clergy members in an email to Good Good Good.
“We gathered for coffee at the Abbey, sat down with organizers to ask what we needed to do, and we listened. We began reaching out to clergy networks, asking and asking and asking folks to sign on.”
After raising the funds to run the letter in the state’s two largest editions of the Sunday paper, McKnight was hopeful she’d get the support of at least 100 clergy members. She made it past 120.
“I am so grateful for all the clergy who signed on,” McKnight said. “I know for all of them, it is a risk.”
The ad — which was funded by Urban Abbey UMC, the Religious Council for Reproductive Freedom, and First Unitarian Church of Omaha — reads:
“As Nebraska religious leaders, we stand for reproductive rights and religious liberties. We support and trust our friends and neighbors to make choices about their health care with their physicians, families, and faith leaders. If you feel the same way, please contact your senators. Please oppose LB 626.”
Why is this good news?
While there is certainly room to discuss personal values about abortion and reproductive care, the fact of the matter is that removing access to abortion is life-threatening. Outlawing abortion in any way can lead to long-term health problems, increase the number of pregnancy-related deaths, and cause further harm to communities of color.
Besides, limiting or prohibiting abortion isn’t actually an effective — or safe — way to reduce abortions.
Medical providers fear that a law like this would make it more difficult — if not impossible — to provide essential care to patients, especially considering the complex and individual needs of folks experiencing pregnancy.
The Nebraska Medical Association, the Nebraska Nurses Association, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all oppose the bill.
Despite the medical and socioeconomic implications, those in favor of bills like this often cite religious beliefs in their quest to remove access to abortion. McKnight hopes this letter will provide an alternative perspective and invite more nuance to the conversation surrounding both reproductive freedom and faith.
“Reproductive rights have been under attack, and the religious voice has been co-opted as a tool for this oppression,” she said. “We want to be clear that one can be a person of faith and value reproductive freedom. We want to be clear that a faith community can be a place of support and care, rather than judgment and condemnation.”
Part of this belief for McKnight comes back to her work cultivating inclusive faith communities, elevating the voices and experiences of all members of a community. (The Urban Abbey is Omaha’s go-to location for Drag Queen Story Hour.)
“The religious right’s objection to abortion is really born out of politics, not theology. The thing is, most of these churches don’t have religious leaders who have personal experience with reproductive healthcare,” McKnight said. “I know how vital this healthcare is, in part because I have needed it.”
Most of all, McKnight — and the 120 other faith leaders — just want people to have autonomy.
“At the very least, we should not disturb an individual’s healthcare decisions,” she said. “I believe we struggle to understand our bodies and health, and we need more access to health and sex education. If people understood their bodies better and could be in awe of the complexity, they would be less inclined to try to manage the bodies of others.”
Ultimately, McKnight said, if folks still feel like their faith moves them to not seek an abortion, that can be their own decision, or even a decision they make with their own faith leaders.
“However, pressing that belief onto others creates harm,” she said. “It really is an act of domination.”
By bringing together the leadership of over 120 clergy members in the state, she hopes people will think more deeply about the future of reproductive freedom.
“I hope it matters,” McKnight said. “I hope it gives folks pause when they assume that faith means pro-birth. I hope it will invite them to consider how complex our bodies are and how what is the most life-giving choice, or the choice that makes life abundant and wonderful, isn’t always in black and white.”
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Which faith leaders signed the letter?
Over 120 clergy members across five religious faiths in Nebraska endorsed this message about reproductive freedom. Additionally, 14 full faith communities endorsed the ad, which appeared in the Sunday, February 26 edition of both the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Star Journal.
Faith Communities
- Urban Abbey United Methodist Church
- Saint Paul United Methodist Church Lincoln - Health and Justice Team
- First Unitarian Church of Omaha
- Temple Israel
- Nebraska Religious Council for Reproductive Freedom
- The Unitarian Church of Lincoln
- Queer Faith on Campus
- Prairie Vista Unitarian Universalist Community, Scottsbluff
- Mercy & Justice Team of the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church First United Methodist Church, Omaha
- American Muslim Institute
- Tri-Faith Initiative
- Sacred Activism Community
- Kearney Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
- 2nd Unitarian Church of Omaha
Faith Leaders & Clergy
- Rev. Debra McKnight
- Rabbi Steven Abraham
- Rev. Katie Miller
- Rev. Dr. E. Scott Jones
- Rev. Kate West
- Rev. Rebecca Hjelle
- Rev. Penny Greer
- Rev. Brandon Proffitt
- Pastor D. Brown
- Rev. Joshua Sawyer
- Pastor Jessie Lent
- Rev. Fay Ann Blaylock
- Rev. Kenny Blaylock
- Rev. Steven Mitchell
- Rev. Stefanie Hayes
- Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede
- Rev. Sarah Rentzel Jones, MDiv
- Rev. Charlene Wozny
- Rev. Dr. John Gathje
- Rev. Dr. Jane Florence
- Rev. Michelle M. Reed
- Rev. Stephen Griffith
- Rev. Hollie Schmidt
- Rev. Caitlin Bentzinger
- Rev. Lisa A. Hadler
- Rev. Benjamin Hanne
- Hazzan Michael Krausman
- The Rev. Elizabeth Easton
- Rev. Jim Corson
- Pastor Lowell Hennigs
- Rev. Chad Anglemeyer
- Rev. Shari Woodbury
- Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin
- Rev. Mr. Lauren D. Ekdahl
- Rev. Dr. Don Bredthauer
- Rev. Nan Kaye-Skinner
- Rev. Kirstie J. Engel
- Pastor Kathy Rice
- Rabbi Batsheva Appel
- Rev. Dr. Lew Kaye-Skinner
- Rev. Dean Joy
- Pastor Tony Dawson
- Rev. Jim Wallasky
- Cantor Joanna M. Alexander
- Rev. Juniper E. Meadows
- The Rev. H. Ashley Hall, PhD
- Rev. Oscar Sinclair
- The Rev. Dr. Jim Keck
- Rev. Erica Nelson
- Rev. Nancy J. H. Phillips
- Rev. Day Hefner
- Deacon Kristin Johnson
- Rev. Dr. Mary Kay Totty
- Rev. Sharee Johnson
- Rev. Dr. Rebecca Z. McNeil
- Bishop J. Scott Barker
- Rev. Irene Prince
- Rev. Dr. Doug Griger
- Rev. Lyn Seiser
- Rev. Cara Jensen
- Rev. Doyle Burbank-Williams
- Rev. Dr. Ron Roemmich
- Rev. Sherry J. Sklenar
- Rev. Karen Jeffcoat
- Rabbi Aryeh Azriel
- Rev. Dr. Keith Herron
- Rev. Lyle K. Schoen
- Rev. Carol Windrum
- Rev. Bethann Black
- Rev. Cindy Beasley Karges
- Rev. Richard O. Randolph, PhD
- Pastor Samm Johnston
- Rev. Warren R. Schoming
- Rev. Cathy L. Cole
- Rev. Debra Tompsett-Welch
- Rev. Nancy K. Flader
- Rev. Beth Graverholt
- Rev. Randall Sailors
- The Rev. Scott Alan Johnson
- Rev. Susan P. Davies
- Rev. Dr. Jim Keyser
- Rev. Melissa Finlaw Draper
- Rev. Dr. Larry Adams
- Rev. Doodle Harris
- Rev. William M. Williams, Jr.
- Rev. Pat Norris
- Rabbi Alex Felch
- Rev. Dr. Sarah Voss
- Rev. Chad Boling
- Rev. Cath Gebers
- Rev. Marshall Johnson
- Rev. Dr. Marcee Binder
- Rev. Joy Simpson
- Rev. Morita Truman
- Rev. Portia Cavitt
- The Very Reverend, Bishop K. Jevon Chambers, ThD
- Rev. Ron Croom
- Rev. Dr. Chris Alexander
- The Rev. Juan Carlos Huertas
- Mr. Karim Khayati
- Rev. Ronald W. Knapp
- Rev. Grant Story
- Rev. Dr. Cynthia Lindenmeyer
- Rev. Dr. Don Sarton
- Rev. Lane Bailey
- Rev. Kelly Karges
- Rev. Kyoki Roberts
- Rev. Judy Waible
- The Rev. Benedict Varnum
- Rev. George Kilmer
- Rev. Reva B. Karstens
- Rev. Richard Mannel
- Rev. Kyle Knapp
- Rev. Gina Gile
- Wendy Goldberg, Tri-Faith Initiative Executive Director
- Rev. Jacob Cloud
- Rev. Abby Caseman
- Rev. David Lux
- Rev. Ken Rood
- Diaconal Minister Sue Rood
