Despite some media reports implying that a Nebraska teen has been charged for having an abortion, that claim is false.

While Nebraska law generally protects unborn children 20 weeks or older from abortion, the same law provides that “No penalty shall be assessed against the woman upon whom the abortion is performed or attempted to be performed.” [R.R.S. Neb. §§ 28-3,102 to 28-3,111 (2010)[1]]

The charges brought relate to Nebraska law concerning the handling of human remains and the alleged “removing, concealing, or abandoning a dead human body and concealing the death of another person” according to Forbes.

These charges have nothing to do with the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision or Nebraska’s abortion law that was passed in 2010.

National Right to Life takes no position on the particulars of state laws regarding the handling of human remains. Everyone should agree, regardless of their position on abortion, that a 23-week-old stillborn baby’s body should not be burned and secretly buried, as was allegedly done in this case.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

[1] § 28-3,108. Prohibited abortion; penalty.

Any person who intentionally or recklessly performs or attempts to perform an abortion in violation of section 28-3,106 is guilty of a Class IV felony. No penalty shall be assessed against the woman upon whom the abortion is performed or attempted to be performed. [Emphasis added.]