LINCOLN — Abortions reported to have occurred in Nebraska last year dropped 25% in the seven months after a more restrictive law took effect, compared to the same period in 2022.

"Pray for Jack Kennedy," I said to Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas and lead "spinner" for the 1988 vice presidential debate in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been rehearsing that week in Austin, with Rep. Dennis Eckart playing Dan Quayle, me playing moderator Judy Woodruff, and Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen playing himself, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. I asked Eckart/Quayle why he thought he had the experience to be president and he answered by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy.

LINCOLN — Three decades ago, Hall County Public Defender Gerald Piccolo could get more than 100 applicants for a job opening just by posting a notice on the bulletin boards at Nebraska’s two law colleges and sharing a notice with the state bar association.

Now, he said, he’s lucky to get a handful of aspiring defense attorneys to apply.

When Nebraska lawmakers last year banned abortion at 12 weeks, Amanda never thought she’d be a passenger in a car bound for Illinois to get one.

She couldn’t fathom she’d be driving seven hours – and spending nearly $10,000 – to have an abortion, months after a key Omaha state senator didn’t fight for an exception that may have changed her story.