Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom announced Tuesday that a Carson City judge determined that a proposed ballot measure seeking to protect access to abortion in the state constitution meets statutory requirements and can go before voters for signature-gathering.
The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to protect the right to an abortion until fetal viability, about 23 or 24 weeks, or as needed to protect the life or health of a pregnant patient. If the amendment qualifies and passes in subsequent elections, abortion protections would be more difficult to overturn than they are under existing state law, which protects abortion up to 24 weeks. The law was approved by voters in 1990 and could only be overturned by a majority vote of state residents.
Officials with the Carson City District Court Clerk’s Office told The Nevada Independent that Donna Washington, a Reno pastor’s wife, initiated the legal complaint against the ballot petition, arguing the proposed amendment contained an unfunded mandate. The judge’s order was not immediately available.