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nevadans for reproductive freedom
Nevada Coalition Submits 200K+ Signatures for Abortion Rights Ballot Measure
"The number of signatures gathered in just over three months shows how deeply Nevadans believe in abortion rights," said one campaigner.
May 20, 2024
An amendment to enshrine abortion rights in Nevada's Constitution moved one step closer to appearing on this November's ballot Monday as reproductive rights defenders submitted nearly twice the number of required signatures to state election officials.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, the coalition spearheading the ballot measure, said it submitted more than 200,000 signatures from every county in the state—where abortion is legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy—supporting the Nevada Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment. Proposed 2024 Nevada ballot questions need 102,362 verified signatures to qualify; campaigners generally aim to collect double the required number of signatures, as many are disqualified for various reasons.
"This is a true testament to the volunteers, supporters, and coalition partners who recognize the importance of codifying abortion rights into our state constitution," Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom said on social media. "We're officially one step closer."
"The number of signatures gathered in just over three months shows how deeply Nevadans believe in abortion rights and its importance to this moment in our nation's history."
Speaking to supporters outside the Clark County Courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom president Lindsey Harmon said that "the majority of Nevadans agree that the government should stay out of their personal and private decisions... about our bodies, our lives, and our futures."
"The number of signatures gathered in just over three months shows how deeply Nevadans believe in abortion rights and its importance to this moment in our nation's history," Harmon added.
Nevada constitutional amendments must be approved by voters twice. If the proposed abortion rights amendment qualifies for the ballot and is approved by voters this November, it will appear again on the 2026 statewide ballot.
Last November, Carson City District Court Judge James Russell sided with right-wing advocacy groups who argued that the proposed amendment violates Nevada law by covering more than one subject. After Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom subsequently narrowed the proposal's focus, Russell ruled the coalition could proceed with signature gathering. In April, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the proposed ballot measure's original language.
Four states—Florida, Kansas, Maryland, and New York—have abortion rights measures on November's ballot, while Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and Nevada have proposed such initiatives.
Since the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court voided half a century of federal abortion rights nearly two years ago in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, seven states have let voters weigh in on the issue. People in all seven states—including conservative Kansas, Kentucky, and Montana—have voted to either protect and expand abortion rights or defeat measures seeking to restrict access to the procedure.
Meanwhile, 14 states have enacted total abortion bans, while 27 have legislated restrictions on the procedure based on duration of pregnancy,
according to the Guttmacher Institute.
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Nevada Abortion Rights Advocates Vow to Fight Ruling Against Ballot Measure
"Nevadans overwhelmingly support putting reproductive rights into our state constitution," said one abortion rights campaigner.
Nov 24, 2023
Abortion rights advocates said this week that they would appeal a decision by a Nevada judge to reject a 2024 ballot initiative to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution.
Carson City District Court Judge James Russell sided Tuesday with the Coalition for Parents and Children PAC, which last month filed a lawsuit claiming the ballot measure—which would guarantee the "fundamental right to reproductive freedom"—violates Nevada law by covering more than one subject. The petition mentions abortion, birth control, prenatal care, and post-partum care, which advocates note all fall under the umbrella of "reproductive freedom."
However, Russell said that "it is clear to me this is probably the clearest case I have seen that I think there is a violation of the single-subject rule."
"We are optimistic about the ballot initiative as a whole, and you know, we plan to appeal this."
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom—a coalition including Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All Nevada, and Indivisible Northern Nevada that filed the petition in September—disagreed with Russell's ruling and vowed to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
"We are optimistic about the ballot initiative as a whole, and you know, we plan to appeal this," said Lindsey Harmon with Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom. "And we know that in fact, these are all a single subject."
"Nevadans overwhelmingly support putting reproductive rights into our state constitution, and voters should be aware that anti-abortion advocates still have plenty of state government allies who are willing to help them undermine reproductive freedom," Harmon asserted, adding that the coalition would not "let one judge's misguided ruling deter us."
Voters in seven states—most recently Ohio—have passed ballot measures protecting reproductive rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's cancellation of half a century of federal abortion rights in last year's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.
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Nevada Becomes Latest State Where Voters Could Decide on Abortion Rights in 2024
A coalition called Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom filed a petition to place a proposed constitutional amendment on 2024 ballots.
Sep 14, 2023
Reproductive rights groups in Nevada said Thursday that they plan to make the state one of a growing number where voters will make their voices heard on abortion in 2024, in the face of bans that have been passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom—a coalition including Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada, and Indivisible Northern Nevada—said it filed a petition with the secretary of state's office to include on 2024 election ballots a referendum that would enshrine abortion access in the state constitution.
Nevada is not among the 22 states that have passed severe restrictions or bans on abortion care since Roe was overturned in June 2022, but advocates want to make it harder to weaken the state law that protects abortion access up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The constitutional amendment proposed by the coalition would say the state "may not penalize, prosecute, or take adverse action against any individual based on the outcome of a pregnancy of the individual, or against any licensed healthcare provider who acts consistent with the applicable scope and practice of providing reproductive healthcare services to an individual who has granted their voluntary consent."
It would also ban any abortion restrictions before the point in pregnancy when physicians determine a fetus is viable, generally around 23 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
"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," Lindsey Harmon, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada, toldNBC News.
The coalition has until June 26, 2024 to gather 103,000 signatures from registered voters in support of placing the proposed amendment on ballots. It would need to pass with a simple majority next year to appear again on 2026 ballots, as two separate votes are needed to amend the constitution.
Recent polling by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of adults in Nevada believe abortion care should be legal in most or all cases.
Referendum votes in states including Montana, Kansas, and Kentucky last year showed that voters in states across the country—including those that lean Republican—also back abortion rights. Voters in those states rejected proposals that would have allowed their legislatures to ban or restrict abortion, sparking a new strategy among pro-abortion rights groups.
This November, voters in Ohio will vote on whether to codify the right to abortion care in the state constitution, and residents already demonstrated support last month for pro-choice campaigners who urged them to reject a measure which would have raised the threshold needed for the constitutional amendment to pass. Ohioans decisively voted against the proposal.
Organizers in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho, and South Dakota have also launched campaigns to give voters a say on abortion care by placing referendums on 2024 ballots, with some facing opposition from GOP officials.
The ACLU of Missouri sued Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft last month after he wrote in official ballot language that the proposed constitutional amendment would "allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth."
In Nevada, campaigners said Thursday they aim to "make sure Nevada voters can say for themselves that they support reproductive freedom."
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