Pastor's Note: The following information is from our Nebraska District LCMS. I am in full agreement with it, and strongly urge you to consider what it says when casting your vote. God calls us in His Word to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, to speak for the unborn, to protect life and not promote death. The ballot for the November 5th election will include two initiatives concerning life, both requiring our response. It is important to vote on both initiatives. Some have asked why we recommend they vote in favor of ballot initiative 434 when it does allow for abortion to occur before 12 weeks. We hope you will take the following into consideration: The state constitution currently does not have actual protection for life. It has been the practice of the legislature to interpret it as such, but 434 will add pro-life language to the constitution. 434 establishes a 12-week ceiling on abortion, but not a floor. The upper limit leaves room for future legislation to protect life from the moment it starts. This means that 434 will “hold the line” with the current 12-week abortion ban and leave room for further action in the future. We encourage you to vote YES on Initiative Measure #434. It’s critical to recognize that the current language of our state constitution provides zero protections from abortion. It leaves the issue totally up to the Nebraska Legislature. At the very least, Initiative 434 provides some basic constitutional protection from abortion. 439 represents a tremendous and radical shift in state policy on abortion and parental rights. There is much concern that if 439 is enacted, it will be much harder to return any protections for life to the state constitution. The polls of the public opinion shared by the Nebraska Catholic Conference show how close this initiative is to passing: Protect Women & Children publicly released a poll back in the spring showing that the abortion measure (Initiative 439) had 54% support among the general public. We encourage you to vote NO on Initiative Measure #439! Again, it is important to vote on both initiatives. Every person should vote their conscience, but with both initiatives on the agenda, whichever receives the greater majority will be the one placed into the constitution. The danger of pro-life voters voting no on both would likely give the advantage to 439. For a more detailed treatment on this topic you may wish to read: https://www.lincolndiocese.org/op-ed/legislative-update/18196-vote-no-on-both-is-wrong-harmful The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes that abortion is contrary to God’s Word and “is not a moral option, except as a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of another human being, viz., the mother”. (Source: LCMS FAQ)
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