Machaela Cavanaugh

The legislative year had hardly begun in Nebraska when the new Republican majority advanced a fetal "heartbeat" bill, a permitless "concealed carry" gun bill and, Legislative Bill 574, which would forbid health-care workers from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 19.

Senator Cavanaugh announced “If this legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful; painful for everyone. Because if you want to inflict pain upon our children, I am going to inflict pain upon this body. I have nothing, nothing but time. And I am going to use all of it. You cannot stop me. I will not be stopped. If LB574 gets an early floor debate and moves forward, it will be very painful for this body. And if people are like, ‘Is she threatening us?’ Let me be clear: Yes, I am threatening you."

Machaela Cavanaugh is an Omaha native with nearly 20 years’ experience in community engagement and public affairs represents the 6th District (Central, West-Central Omaha) in the Nebraska State Legislature. Before her time in the Legislature, Cavanaugh worked at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. Prior to her work with the Buffett Institute, Cavanaugh served as the Director of Development for Opera Omaha and the American Province of the Servants of Mary, and a Staff Assistant in Washington D.C. for U.S. Senator Ben Nelson.