Nebraska Should Vote for Measure 434 and Against Initiative 439 to Protect Women and Babies

Nebraska is among the 10 states with abortion-related initiatives on their ballots this November. To help sway voters, a total of six athletes from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) women’s softball and volleyball teams have started an ad campaign to encourage their state to vote for life.

Measure 434 and Initiative 439 are both on Nebraska’s ballot. Both would be amendments to the state’s constitution, but one protects the lives of unborn children while the other erases pro-life gains. Measure 434 was launched by medical professionals and is designed to “safeguard women’s health care with clear, commonsense abortion limits and exceptions.” Initiative 439, on the other hand, would make abortion “a fundamental right … until fetal viability.” To clarify what both policies would do, women from the Cornhuskers’ softball team are trying to highlight that “extreme activists” are “lying about Nebraska’s laws” and “women’s health care” through Initiative 439.

UNL volleyball player Rebekah Allick alongside softball players Malia Thomas, Hannah and Lauren Camenzind, Jordyn Bahl, and Abbie Squier are featured in the commercial, which was released on Monday by the pro-life initiative Protect Women and Children. In the 30-second video, the players make a series of statements calling on voters to “get in the game” by supporting Measure 434 and rejecting Initiative 439.

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“With out-of-state activists lying about the radical Initiative 439,” Bahl said, “my teammates and I knew it was time to get off the bench and tell the truth about how 439 would harm Nebraska women and children.” Allick emphasized that the pro-abortion measure “forces taxpayer funding of abortion, places women’s care in the hands of non-physicians, and puts Nebraska women at risk.” It also “outlaws parental notification for minors,” she warned. Squier explained how this initiative “makes women vulnerable to pressure and coercion.”

Conversely, the ad goes on to argue that Nebraska’s pro-life ballot initiative has many benefits, including that it “defends women from abuse, trafficking, and coercion” and protects unborn children “from abortion in the second and third trimesters.” Beyond this campaign, these players have taken it upon themselves to promote their pro-life views on their personal platforms and social media. In an Instagram post, Bahl wrote, “This was too important for me to remain silent on. If Initiative 439 is passed, Nebraska women will be at risk. That’s why I voted FOR 434 and against 439. Keep our women and children SAFE.”

Bahl has also addressed some of the backlash the players have received. In response to criticisms that claimed the women were paid to be a part of the ad campaign, she shared on X, “Imagine people seeing a commercial done with 6 young women supporting a pro-life movement, and immediately jumping to the conclusion that we were paid to take part. Nope! None of us received a penny!” Ultimately, Bahl explained that she and her teammates “just aren’t afraid to take a stand and protect life!”

Notably, the university has not stopped the players from exercising their First Amendment rights. However, they did share this statement:

“The University of Nebraska is not affiliated with the campaign activities of the candidates running for election to the Board of Regents. The opinions expressed by the candidates and the causes supported by their respective campaigns are their own and do not reflect the University of Nebraska. Students at the University of Nebraska are private citizens and are able to exercise their First Amendment rights. The opinions expressed by students are their own and are not those of the University of Nebraska or Husker Athletics.”

Despite the backlash the ad campaign has received, support has poured in from pro-life organizations and individuals. Nebraska Right to Life responded to Bahl’s post on X, thanking the “ladies for speaking the truth & standing for women & life in Nebraska!” A different comment emphasized, “You knew the left (media and activists) would come after you, and you still stood up for what you believe! If only more young people could be as brave.” Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, also praised the bravery of these players in a comment to The Washington Stand.

“Sports are good because they teach us about life,” she said. “They’re this arena where everything is meant to be fair, [and] where we can learn how to do hard things and … stand up for what is right.” When it comes to sports, Szoch explained how it teaches the athlete to “play to the best of [their] ability” and “strive for excellence.” It’s about looking “out for every single member of your team” which then teaches “us to look out for our brothers and sisters in Christ here in this world.” Athleticism, she asserted, is about sacrifice. Clearly, “these women have learned those lessons.”

Szoch continued, “They’ve learned that every single person matters, and that standing up for what is good and true is more important than popularity” and “having everyone like you.” To use one’s “platform of sports to stand up for the weakest and most vulnerable of their brothers and sisters, the unborn children in the womb,” is both commendable and “amazing.” But especially now, “as we approach this election,” Szoch emphasized how “in 10 different states, life is on the ballot. Unborn children’s lives are on the ballot.”

It is the Christians’ “obligation to have those tough conversations,” she urged. “We should all be looking at the example of these girls, these college athletes, who were willing to put their reputations, popularity, [and] everything on the line to stand up for what is true,” which is “that every human being has dignity.” Szoch challenged others to be as bold as the girls on these teams. “In the days before the election, I would challenge everyone … to not be afraid to speak out about the dignity of every single human being that begins at the moment of fertilization.”

Ultimately, doing this “may cost you,” Szoch cautioned. “It may cost you friendships, it may cost you popularity. But when we get to that moment where we stand before God,” the hope is that “each of us can say, ‘I did all that I could with all that I had.’” And “these girls,” Szoch concluded, “are certainly making it possible to do that for themselves.”

LifeNews Note: Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand, where this originally appeared.

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