Osborn says he supports abortion with ‘common sense limits,’ but won’t say how he voted in Nebraska’s successful 2024 referendum that banned abortion after the first trimester
Dan Osborn, the independent Nebraska Senate candidate running with the endorsement of the state’s Democratic Party, has quietly removed all references to abortion from his campaign website as the self-styled centrist seeks to win over conservative voters in the deep red state.
As recently as March 31, Osborn stated on his campaign website that he opposes “extreme national measures to ban abortion,” saying the federal government isn’t capable of resolving the issue of abortion and that efforts should instead be dedicated to reducing unwanted pregnancies (he did not explain how). That language has since been removed from Osborn’s policy platform on his campaign website, which, as of Sunday morning, contains no mention of the word “abortion.”
Osborn’s newfound reluctance to mention abortion in his policy platform clashes with his outspokenness on the issue during his unsuccessful independent 2024 campaign, when he made a surprisingly strong showing against GOP incumbent Deb Fischer. In the lead-up to that year’s elections, many political observers wrongly believed abortion would be a “sleeper” issue that would propel Democrats to victory, even in the Great Plains. Osborn therefore straddled the fence in 2024, saying he was “personally pro-life” while also supporting Congress codifying the standard set by Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case overturned in 2022 that once legalized abortion nationwide. In October 2024, Osborn even threatened to sue Fischer, saying she smeared him by claiming he supports abortion until birth.
But as it turned out, abortion in 2024 had little support in Nebraska, which President Donald Trump won by more than 20 points. That year, voters in the state overwhelmingly supported a constitutional amendment that banned most abortions after the first trimester, while simultaneously rejecting another amendment that would have expanded abortion access in the state.
Osborn’s decision to remove abortion from his policy platform comes as he seeks to broaden his appeal in deep-red Nebraska and defeat the state’s other Republican incumbent, Pete Ricketts. Though Osborn, a mechanic by trade, is running as a blue-collar, populist independent and claims he won’t caucus with either party if he wins his election, he is effectively the Democratic candidate. Osborn has been endorsed by Nebraska’s Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kleeb. The winner of Nebraska’s Democratic primary, Cindy Burbank—who only entered the primary to fend off an anti-abortion pastor named William Forbes, whom Democrats accused of being a “Republican plant” who would siphon away votes from Osborn—is currently trying to get her name removed from the ballot, though Nebraska’s GOP-controlled government may prevent that.
Some early polls have shown a close race between Osborn and Ricketts, though major forecasters still classify the race as “likely Republican.”
When reached by the Washington Free Beacon, Osborn would not say how he voted on the Nebraska abortion amendments in 2024, nor would he explain why he removed abortion from his campaign website.
“My position on abortion has been consistent,” Osborn said. “I don’t support extreme national bans on abortion like Pete Ricketts does. I support codifying the Roe v. Wade standard—legal access to abortion until viability, with exceptions after that when a woman’s health is at risk. That’s the standard we had for 50 years, and it worked. Every pregnancy is different. I don’t support late-term abortions, and I believe we need common-sense limits.”
Osborn has raked in out-of-state campaign contributions from some of the strongest advocates for abortion, including Naomi Aberly, the wealthy former board chair of Planned Parenthood, which opposes gestational limits for abortion and advocates for unrestricted access to abortion.
Osborn’s 2026 campaign has accepted $5,000 from Aberly, cashing her most recent contribution in late April. A prolific Democratic fundraiser, Aberly organized a $500,000 gala in 2019 to help Planned Parenthood’s Massachusetts political affiliate support a bill to give teenage girls access to abortion services without parental consent. The bill was codified into state law in December 2020.
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