Abortion-rights demonstrators protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade during a rally outside the Federal Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas Friday, June 24, 2022.
Friday, Sept. 15, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Advocacy groups seeking to strengthen abortion protections in the state have filed for a petition initiative to codify access to the procedure in the Nevada Constitution, with the goal of presenting a ballot question before voters for the 2024 general election.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, a political action committee made up of Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada, NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada and the ACLU of Nevada, is looking “to give Nevada voters an opportunity to codify their fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, according to a new release sent Thursday.
To make it onto the 2024 ballot, the petition must collect roughly 103,000 signatures equally divided among Nevada’s four congressional districts by June 2024. If a majority of voters approve the question in 2024, the measure would again appear on the 2026 general election ballot. A majority vote at that time would place the abortion protections in the Nevada Constitution.
“The urgency of this moment in our nation’s history demands immediate action from us all. Abortion rights and access in this country are in peril like never before despite the fact that the broad majority of Americans support abortion rights,” Lindsey Harmon, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada, said in the release.
Last June, the conservative-majority high court, in a 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, essentially reversed the longstanding precedent set in Roe, the 1973 landmark ruling that protected the right to abortion nationally. The Dobbs ruling left it to states to decide whether to allow access to abortion. Since Dobbs, the procedure has been restricted or outright banned in at least 24 states.
“The fallout of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade has shown us that we have already suffered one year too long without the guaranteed right to reproductive freedom, and we simply cannot afford to stand by and allow any further encroachment on the fundamental right of Nevadans to determine their own reproductive lives and care,” Harmon continued.
The initiative is different from Senate Joint Resolution 7, which the Legislature passed in May and also aims to amend the Nevada Constitution. In addition to the right to an abortion, SJR 7 also assumes the right to “reproductive freedom,” including birth control, prenatal and postpartum care, vasectomies, tubal ligation, infertility care and miscarriage treatment.
That measure, however, must again clear the Legislature in 2025 before it would be presented to voters in 2026. Harmon told the Sun that if the ballot question — which uses the same language as SJR 7 — qualifies for the 2024 ballot and passes, lawmakers in Carson City wouldn’t need to take further action on the resolution, so that both questions wouldn’t appear before voters.
“We recognize the urgency of the moment,” Harmon said, “And we know voters want us to take action.”
In a statement Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, said she endorsed the ballot initiative.
“This is an important ballot measure that gives Nevadans the right to control their bodies — not out-of-touch politicians,” said Cannizzaro, lead sponsor of SJR 7. “I am fully in support of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom and their coalition’s efforts to put this measure on the ballot in 2024.”
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who describes himself as “pro-life” and was endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, said on the campaign trail before the 2022 election that he would respect the will of voters who codified abortion rights up to 24 weeks in a 1990 referendum vote. This summer, he signed legislation into law that bars state agencies from assisting in out-of-state investigations that could lead to the prosecution of abortion patients who travel to Nevada. It also ensures medical boards and commissions that oversee medical licenses do not discipline or disqualify doctors who provide abortions.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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