Brady votes to send abortion ban to November ballot
BRADY, Neb. (KNOP) - On August 24, the Village Board of Brady voted to pass a resolution sending an ordinance to the November ballot that would make performing an abortion or aiding and abetting an abortion illegal within the jurisdiction of the Village of Brady.
The ordinance was the result of an effort led by Brady resident Laurie Viter. In order to be found successful, the measure needed a total of 40 verified signatures of qualified electors within the Village of Brady. The initiative obtained a total of 54 signatures, 46 of which were found eligible.
If passed by the voters on November 8, the Brady abortion ban would make it unlawful for any person to “procure or perform an abortion of any type and at any stage of pregnancy in the Village of Brady, Nebraska,” “knowingly aid or abet an abortion that occurs in the Village of Brady, Nebraska,” and " for any person to possess or distribute abortion-inducing drugs in the Village of Brady, Nebraska.”
Surgical abortions are performed at all three of Nebraska’s abortion clinics located in Lincoln, Omaha, and Bellevue. Surgical abortions are performed at Planned Parenthood Lincoln South in Lincoln through 16 weeks and 6 days, Planned Parenthood Northwest Center in Omaha through 16 weeks and 6 days, and C.A.R.E. Clinics for Abortion and Reproductive Excellence in Bellevue through 21 weeks and 6 days.
The abortion pill is also administered at all three clinics. The abortion pill is administered at Planned Parenthood Lincoln South in Lincoln through 11 weeks and 0 days, Planned Parenthood Northwest Center in Omaha through 11 weeks and 0 days, and C.A.R.E. Clinics for Abortion and Reproductive Excellence in Bellevue through 10 weeks and 6 days.
When asked if abortions were currently being performed anywhere in the Village of Brady, the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, Mark Lee Dickson said, “To our knowledge, no abortions are currently being performed in Brady, Nebraska. This ordinance intends to keep it that way.” Dickson continued, “When it comes to abortion, the greatest threat to the Village of Brady is not a brick-and-mortar abortion facility coming into town, but the abortion pill being delivered to the mailbox - which is the fulfillment of Biden’s commitment to abortion access in every zip code.”
Dickson referenced Nebraskans For Abortion Access, which recommends a website called Plan C. The cover page of the Plan C website features the artwork of a woman’s hand holding abortion pills before an open mailbox in a community. The website educates visitors on how they can obtain the abortion pill in their state and provides a variety of different links to abortion pill vendors. One vendor, Aid Access, sends the abortion pill by mail for pregnancies up to 12 weeks. According to the Plan C website, these abortion pills provided by Aid Access “are prescribed by a licensed doctor in Amsterdam and shipped from a reputable pharmacy in India.”
While some may find the website to offer a convenient way for women to access essential healthcare, Dickson sees many of the services promoted on the website as “criminal” and “one more reason why villages like Brady need to outlaw abortion and abortion-inducing drugs in their community.”
Not all communities have sent the ordinance to the ballot. Three communities in Nebraska passed similar ordinances through a vote of their community’s leadership. The village of Hayes Center and the city of Blue Hill passed their ordinances in April 2021 and the village of Stapleton passed their ordinance earlier this month. A total of 51 communities across the United States have passed local ordinances outlawing abortion within their city limits.
