The National Right to Life organization and its staff express their profound sorrow at the passing of Nebraska Right to Life’s executive director, Julie Schmit-Albin. She died after a valiant battle with a prolonged illness.
“Julie’s admirable courage during her illness was matched only by her love and concern for those who are most vulnerable among us,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “We mourn her loss as a friend and partner. Our thoughts are with her family during this difficult time.”
In 1989, Julie Schmit-Albin assumed the role of executive director of Nebraska Right to Life. During her tenure, Nebraska Right to Life achieved notable legislative victories, including the passage of Nebraska’s 1991 parental involvement law, which requires parents to be notified before a minor daughter’s abortion. In 1993, Nebraska Right to Life played a pivotal role in securing the enactment of Nebraska’s woman’s right to know law. The aforementioned legislation mandates that a woman be fully informed and voluntarily consent to the performance of an abortion.
Furthermore, in 1997, Nebraska enacted a partial-birth abortion ban. This legislation was subsequently declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Stenberg v. Carhart. However, when a similar piece of federal legislation was introduced, the U.S. Congress addressed the issues identified by the High Court as unconstitutional in its Stenberg decision. Consequently, in 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortions in Gonzales v. Carhart.
In 2009, Nebraska enacted legislation requiring abortion providers to inform women about the availability of ultrasounds. In 2010, Julie played a pivotal role in the passage of a bill that prohibited abortions after an unborn child is capable of feeling pain. (This was the inaugural legislation of its kind in the United States.) In 2011, under Julie’s direction, Nebraska Right to Life campaigned to prohibit webcam abortions in the state of Nebraska.
In 2018, Nebraska Right to Life successfully advocated for legislation that revoked taxpayer funding for abortion organizations. In 2019, Nebraska Right to Life observed the enactment of a bill requiring that women be informed of the possibility of reversing a chemical abortion if they have taken the first pill but not the second.
In 2020, Nebraska Right to Life played a pivotal role in the enactment of a ban on the dismemberment of living unborn babies, a bill that was signed into law by Governor Pete Ricketts.
In the years when pro-life legislation did not pass in Nebraska, Julie was engaged in the organization of the annual Nebraska Walk for Life, the encouragement of members to contact legislators to support pro-life legislation, and the organization of Nebraska Right to Life’s legislative lobbying day. Julie also served as Nebraska’s representative to the board of directors for National Right to Life.
Julie’s contributions to the pro-life movement are immeasurable. Years ago, pro-life statesman and Congressman Henry Hyde made an observation about what it may be like to stand in the presence of God.
When the time comes as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Fulton Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no advocates, you are there alone standing before God – and a terror will rip through your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really think that those in the pro-life movement will not be alone. I think there will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world – and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement. They will say to God, “Spare him because he loved us,” – and God will look at you and say not, “Did you succeed?” but “Did you try?”
“As Julie is ushered into the presence of her Savior, I am sure she is hearing the ‘chorus of voices that have never been heard in this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world’ speaking up on her behalf,” said Tobias. “She spent her life trying to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us and we will miss her.”
Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
