Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV, left, and Jacky Rosen D-NV, right, talk during the launch of the 100-megawatt MGM Resorts Mega Solar Array Monday, June 28, 2021. The solar array facility will produce up to 90 percent of MGM Resorts Las Vegas daytime power.
Sunday, March 12, 2023 | 3 a.m.
Nevada’s two U.S. Senators were among 49 mostly Democratic lawmakers who introduced a bill this past week that aims to codify the right to an abortion at the federal level.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both Democrats, signed onto the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation that would enshrine the protections previously guaranteed under the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. In June, the high court overturned Roe after hearing a separate case from Mississippi that sought to ban the procedure after six weeks gestation — and in doing so, triggered laws in 26 states that either placed restrictions or outlawed abortion altogether.
In a joint statement, the Senators said the bill creates federal rights to abortion care for patients and providers, and protects against “medically unnecessary restrictions” that undermine access to health care and intrude on “person decision-making.”
“Women’s rights have come under attack since the fall of Roe v. Wade, and it’s crucial that we act now to protect reproductive freedom for women across the country,” Cortez Masto, Nevada’s senior senator said in the statement.
Rosen, who is up for reelection in 2024, and has been labeled by many political analysts as among the most vulnerable Democratic lawmakers seeking another term, said she signed on in response to legislation introduced by Republican lawmakers last year that sought to restrict abortions after 12 weeks, except in cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother.
“After the Supreme Court took away women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies, Republicans in Washington introduced a nationwide abortion ban that would even restrict reproductive rights in my state of Nevada,” Rosen said. “I’ll always stand up for a woman’s right to choose and fight back against attacks on reproductive freedoms.”
The prospects of that bill died when Democrats defied midterm expectations in November and retained control of the upper chamber, despite an unpopular President in Joe Biden. To become law, the Women’s Health Protection Act would need enough GOP support to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to advance to lawmakers in the U.S. House, where Republicans hold a slim majority.
The bill was introduced Wednesday with the help of independent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, but without Republican support. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Robert Casey, D-Pa., were the only two progressive holdouts.
Last year, Cortez Masto introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which was co-sponsored by Rosen, and sought to ensure legal protections for women traveling across state lines to receive an abortion or other reproductive care. Cortez Masto has also urged the Federal Trade Commission to protect privacy data of women seeking abortion care.
Rosen last year also introduced the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, which sought to protect doctors in states where abortion is permitted from legal liability in states that allow individuals to sue if an abortion occurs there.
Rosen and Cortez Masto have also signed onto letters urging national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens to provide the drugs used in early-term medication abortions. In the weeks since, Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer said Walgreens has decided not to dispense the two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol, which has been approved for use by federal regulators since the early 2000s.
Lawmakers call for help amid Northern Nevada winter storms
Cortez Masto, Rosen, and the state’s four U.S. House Representatives signed a letter Thursday urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Farm Service Agency to utilize “all tools and powers” at its disposal to assist farmers and ranchers affected by extreme winter weather.
In conjunction with the senators, Reps. Mark Amodei, Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford said areas of Northern Nevada have seen multiple record-breaking storms this winter. To date, the delegation said, the Eastern Nevada Basin — which according to the Society of Exploration Geophysicists includes most of eastern Nevada, western Utah and parts of Idaho — has received more than 210% of its average yearly snowfall.
That has caused major travel disruptions, as well as limited access to food sources, stress on livestock and increased livestock mortality, the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was provided to the Sun.
“The Departments of Agriculture from four Western states, including Nevada, recently sent you a letter to request assistance with supplemental feed or water, snow removal and the consideration of expanded eligibility for U.S. Department of Agriculture programs,” the lawmakers wrote. “In particular, this letter called on you and your agency to utilize all tools and powers at its disposal to assist impacted farmers and ranchers with various needs resulting from extreme weather.”
They continued: “We echo this call and respectfully request that you provide a prompt response to these Departments, and consider providing immediate assistance to Nevada producers.”
Senators draft Ruby Mountain protections
Cortez Masto and Rosen also introduced the Ruby Mountains Protection Act, which would withdraw about 450,000 acres of National Forest System land, including the Ruby Mountain Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, from any oil or gas leases.
In a release, the senators said the bill would also expand protection to the nearly 40,000-acre Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, currently managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The bill would not affect any recreational use of the lands, except for some new restrictions on hunting, hiking and fishing, according to the release.
