Judge won't act on prenatal care

LINCOLN — An advocacy group for the poor has lost a round in its fight to restore state-paid prenatal services for illegal immigrants and some other low-income women.

Late Wednesday, Lancaster County District Judge Karen Flowers rejected a request to immediately restore the services, saying she had questions before possibly taking that step.

A lawsuit challenging the end of prenatal services for at least 1,500 women will continue. An official of the group that filed the suit expressed disappointment with the judge's rejection of its request for a temporary injunction.

“We're deeply concerned about the women and unborn children that aren't going to get immediate access to the care they need and we believe is required by the state,” said Becky Gould, executive director of the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest.

Earlier this year, the Nebraska Legislature declined to continue a more than two-decades-long practice of providing prenatal care to low-income women in the country illegally since the care goes to unborn children, who would be American citizens. Gov. Dave Heineman and others objected the practice, saying that such state-funded services should not be granted to illegal immigrants.

Medical groups and anti-abortion groups disagreed, saying that such preventive care for pregnant women was the right thing from both a moral and budget standpoint.

Appleseed filed suit on behalf of a 38-year-old Adams County woman who has a history of gestational diabetes. If that condition goes untreated, it can lead to birth defects and delivery complications.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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