Story and Video By Michelle Baker
On the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, reproductive rights groups in Nevada held a press conference about a citizen-led ballot initiative that, if passed, will enshrine abortion access in the Nevada State Constitution.
The Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom Coalition and the Committee to Protect Health Care released a statement on Monday that included over 150 medical professionals endorsing the ballot initiative.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled there is no constitutional right to abortion, ending 50 years of federal abortion protections. According to the Center for Reproductive Health, abortion is now illegal in 14 states. Other states, like Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, have severely restricted access to abortion by adding laws and regulations that make abortion access more difficult, for example, by implementing a six-week abortion ban.
“We can’t take anything for granted in a post-Dobbs world,” said Lindsey Harmon, president of the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom Coalition. “And that’s why we are really doubling down on the protections that we have in statute currently.”
In 1990, Nevada voters codified a referendum protecting abortion access, and while abortion remains legal in Nevada within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, reproductive rights groups have gathered more than 200,000 signatures for a new ballot initiative that would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s Constitution.
The Secretary of State is verifying the signatures, and if the initiative qualifies, it will be on the November ballot. To amend the state constitution, it must be voted on and passed in two consecutive election years.
“So, really, Nevada is playing an important role here because we are showing the rest of the nation what it looks like to be in a safe state, and to be proactive in ways that we know voters support this issue,” Harmon said. “We are really setting the stage and setting the example in an election cycle when all eyes are on Nevada.”
