Nevada judge rules out abortion ballot initiative for 2024

A Nevada judge has nixed a 2024 ballot initiative to enshrine the right to have an abortion in the Silver State’s constitution.

Carson City District Court Judge James Russell sided Tuesday with the Coalition for Parents and Children PAC, who filed a lawsuit earlier this month claiming the abortion initiative violated Nevada law, Reno ABC affiliate KOLO-TV reported.

Jason Guinasso, an attorney for the PAC, argued Nov. 11 that the proposed ballot measure amounted to “log rolling” and included sweeping coverage of abortion, birth control, prenatal care and postpartum care — violating state law by allowing more than one subject on a petition, according to the station.

In his ruling, Russell agreed with Guinasso’s assessment.

“Again, 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,” the judge reportedly said. 

“I just, I’ve seen a lot of them over the years and in respect to this particular matter, there are too many subjects. Not all of which are functionally related to each other.”

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom PAC disagreed with Guinasso’s argument — and abortion initiative supporters said they will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

“We are optimistic about the ballot initiative as a whole, and you know, we plan to appeal this,” said Lindsey Harmon, an attorney representing Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom. “And we know that in fact, these are all a single subject.”

The group first filed its petition on Sept. 14.

If the Nevada Supreme Court issues another unfavorable ruling, abortion rights proponents in the state could still collect more than 100,000 signatures by July 8 to force the issue onto the ballot for Election Day 2024.

The petition would amend Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution to state that “every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including, without limitation, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, vasectomy, tubal ligation, abortion, abortion care, management of a miscarriage and infertility care.”

Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in Nevada due to a 1990 ballot referendum that codified the protections in state law and the state’s constitution.

Ohio voters enacted a similar measure through a ballot initiative, passing an amendment to their state Constitution earlier this month by a majority vote to allow for abortion at any point during pregnancy.

The issue has become a flashpoint for national elections following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year, which overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling ensuring constitutional protection for abortion nationwide.

Former President Donald Trump currently leads President Biden by single digits in Nevada, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling aggregator, but it remains unseen how the potential for changes to abortion law would affect electoral outcomes.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin saw Republicans in the state legislature lose control of the House of Delegates and fail to win the state Senate while campaigning in this year’s election on a pledge to pass a 15-week abortion ban.