Nevada voters likely to get say on abortion protections

The group behind a petition to enshrine abortion protections in Nevada’s constitution announced Tuesday that it has collected more than 110,000 signatures over the last six weeks, signifying it is on pace to appear on the November 2024 ballot.

“We are overwhelmed by Nevadans’ enthusiasm for protecting our reproductive rights and by the eagerness that voters across the political spectrum have shown for our petition,” said Lindsey Harmon, president of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, in a statement.

To qualify for the November ballot, the group must collect 102,362 valid signatures — including nearly 26,000 from each of the state’s four congressional districts — by June 26.

The latest signature collection milestone demonstrates that the campaign is “on track to turn in sufficient valid signatures” by then, the Tuesday statement said.

In 1990, a voter referendum codified abortion protections into Nevada law, however, if the ballot question is put forward to voters and they approve it, abortion access for up to 24 weeks would be enshrined into the Nevada constitution.

The petition has received pushback from anti-abortion advocates who sought to block the initiative.

A Nevada judge in June approved the petition and determined it was eligible for signature gathering, striking down a challenge by the Coalition for Parents and Children political action committee that argued the question contained an unfunded mandate.

Carson City District Judge James Russell had rejected an earlier petition from the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom committee that had called for protections for “matters relating to pregnancy,” including prenatal care, vasectomy and infertility care, ruling that the petition was too broad.

If the petition passes in 2024, it must be voted on again in 2026 in order to amend the constitution.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.