Mindy Rush Chipman, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Nebraska, talks about difficult experiences in her early life and shares her personal story of seeking an abortion. She talks too about the stigma and the difficulties of telling that story. We’ll also hear Rush Chipman on the work of the ACLU and her path from working at a correctional facility library to legal practice.

The ACLU of Nebraska’s advocacy and legal work regularly includes a range of impactful civil rights issues, featuring everything from police practices to LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights. Rush Chipman came to the ACLU of Nebraska after a 3-year tenure as the director of the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights, prior to which she represented Nebraskans through her roles at the Immigrant Legal Center and Legal Aid of Nebraska, as well as in her private legal practice in rural Nebraska. One of her first jobs out of high school was at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services where, while working in the prison library, her eyes were opened to the many issues faced by incarcerated Nebraskans. Rush Chipman’s keen advocacy for everyone’s human and civil rights started early in life with her personal experience needing legal support from a pro-bono attorney to access reproductive health care. Rush Chipman and her spouse live on a small farmstead and are the proud parents of four independent children.