Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court’s landmark abortion cases.
Friday, June 24, 2022 | 1:06 p.m.
Democratic politicians in Nevada lamented the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of constitutional abortion protections as an attack on women’s rights, while Republicans declared it an end to “federal overreach.”
Reaction came swiftly after the court on Friday issued an opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed a woman’s right to abortion.
The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in about half the states but not Nevada.
“For the first time in history, the highest court in the land has rolled back a right it had previously guaranteed,” U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said in a statement.
"Make no mistake: women will die because of this decision,” U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said in a statement. “Families will struggle because of this decision.”
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., called the decision an “attack on the right to control our bodies, health and futures.”
The U.S. has high maternal mortality rates and limited access to paid family medical leave, so reproductive rights are “imperative” for women, Titus said.
“Today’s decision is an assault on all women but particularly those living in minority, underserved and impoverished communities,” Titus said. “They will be forced to take drastic and unsafe measures to self-manage abortions or carry unwanted pregnancies to term.”
The Nevada Republican Party, meanwhile, released a statement supporting the Supreme Court's ruling, calling it a "historic decision overturning decades of federal overreach and returning the right to regulate abortion to the states."
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., expressed concern that Republicans will next try to enact a nationwide abortion ban and pass abortion laws that don’t make exceptions for rape, incest or saving the life of a mother.
Twenty-two states have so-called trigger laws that will severely restrict abortions almost immediately now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Some of them do not contain exceptions for cases involving rape or incest.
Under Nevada law, a pregnancy can be terminated during the first 24 weeks, and abortions are allowed later if the mother’s life or health is at risk.
The campaign for Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who is facing a reelection challenge from former GOP Attorney General Adam Laxalt, said the race, which could decide control of the Senate, will “determine the future of women’s reproductive rights in Nevada and across the country.”
“Throughout her career, Sen. Cortez Masto has consistently fought to protect a woman’s right to choose, standing with the 70% of Nevadans who support women’s reproductive freedoms,” campaign spokesman Josh Marcus-Blank said in a statement.
“Her opponent, Adam Laxalt, would be an automatic vote for a federal abortion ban and supports overturning Nevada’s state-level abortion protections,” he said.
In a statement, Laxalt called the decision a “historic victory for the sanctity of life and the principles of self-determination.”
Laxalt said the Supreme Court never had the authority to dictate to states the terms for abortions.
“After more than 50 years, that responsibility is poised to finally return to its rightful owners: the American people and their elected representatives,” Laxalt said.
“The people of Nevada have already voted to make abortion rights legal in our state, and the court’s decision on Roe doesn’t change settled law and it won’t distract voters from unaffordable prices, rising crime or the border crisis,” he said.
Joe Lombardo, a Republican running for governor in Nevada, said “this important issue was and should be decided by Nevada voters, and moving forward, I trust them to make the best decision for our state.”
Lombardo said he is Catholic and pro-life and believes that most Nevadans agree with him and want fewer abortions, not more.
U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said while he is personally pro-life and has a strong pro-life voting record in Congress, he acknowledges Nevadans voted in 1990 to establish state abortion rights.
“If Nevadans wish to change those abortion laws, this must be done through a proposed ballot initiative,” Amodei said in a statement.
Democrats are also concerned the abortion ruling will result in a domino effect, with other rights established by the Supreme Court in danger of falling.
In a separate opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the court could reconsider opinions protecting access to contraception and same-sex marriage.
“This will not stop here,” Titus said. “Conservative judges have already stated an intention to revisit other constitutional rights like contraception and same-sex marriage. Thus begins the outrageous, but not surprising, erosion of long-standing human rights in this country.”
Titus also noted that the House has passed the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion rights nationwide. She called on Democrats in the Senate to end the filibuster and pass the legislation.
Next Gen America, the largest youth voter organization, also plans to encourage young voters to vote for pro-choice candidates, said President Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez.
“We know that the rollback on the rights of tens of millions of women to basic health care access is a critical setback,” Tzintzún Ramirez said. “There’s a lot of work that can be done at the state level. We need to organize at the federal level, too.”
One in three young people said they would not vote for a candidate who does not support access to abortion, Tzintzún Ramirez said. Young people may feel hopeless right now “but we feel determined, Tzintzún Ramirez said.
