Nevada district attorneys escalate ‘parental notice’ abortion lawsuit to US appeals court

A pair of Nevada district attorneys have mounted a legal challenge to reinstate a 1980s Nevada law that would prevent minors from getting an abortion without a parent being notified.

After Planned Parenthood challenged the law in 1985, citing the then-constitutional right to an abortion, a state judge put the law on hold. But, with the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, Carson City District Attorney Jason Woodbury and Lyon County DA Stephen Rye began looking to reverse the Nevada court’s decades-old decision as well.

“Every single day, there are immature minors who would benefit from involvement of their parents that are seeking abortions,” said James Bopp Jr., a prolific anti-abortion lawyer acting as counsel for the two district attorneys. “Some of them are being exploited by sexual predators who want to cover up their crimes.”

After hearing arguments from the district attorneys and Planned Parenthood Mar Monte of Northern California in October about whether the law should be reinstated, a federal district court responded that both the DA’s and Planned Parenthood needed to address “alternative constitutional grounds” for keeping the injunction. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s coverage includes Northern Nevada.

In the meantime, the federal judge ruled that the law would stay dormant.

On Nov. 21, Woodbury and Rye appealed that decision, arguing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it should remove the request for additional information and lift the order barring parental notice.

The judge is “setting up a situation where she would litigate other possible claims,” Bopp said. “We just think that is completely contrary to the rules. It’s unlawful to keep the injunction in effect once the basis for it has been overturned.”

Parental notice was enforced in Illinois for nearly a decade until its state legislature repealed it in 2021. The Illinois American Civil Liberties Union fought the legislation the whole time, emphasizing that if minors couldn’t notify a limited group of relatives, they had to make their case before a judge.

“These forced parental-involvement laws impact those who are in precarious or dangerous situations — fearing physical or emotional abuse, getting kicked out of the house, or being forced to continue a pregnancy against their wishes,” the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union chapter wrote.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte isn’t commenting on the case.

Parental notification laws have been associated with decreased abortion rates, but the drop typically comes with an increased number of minors crossing state lines to receive medical care, according to a study from Emory University.

Under Nevada’s blocked law, people under 18 could avoid notifying a guardian if they proved in court that doing so would “be detrimental to her best interests.” The law also ensures that court proceedings would be confidential.

A 9th Circuit Court ruling in 1991 found the law’s “bypass procedure” was constitutionally insufficient partially because there was no limit on the amount of time a court had to make a ruling on whether a minor could get an abortion.

Currently, 36 states require some level of parental involvement for someone under 18 to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. In 21 states, a parent needs to consent to the abortion while 10 only require notification.

California, Minnesota, Alaska and New Jersey have laws for either parental notification or consent currently stopped by court rulings like in Nevada, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The federal Centers for Disease Control says less than 1% of abortions in Nevada are performed on people younger than 15; 8.4% of abortions here are performed on people in the 15-18 age range.

While Roe may have been overturned, Nevadans approved a ballot initiative last month to amend the Nevada Constitution to protect the right to an abortion. The amendment will go into effect if a majority again votes for passage in 2026.

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