The Nevada Supreme Court has given its approval to an initiative petition that was circulated by Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom to establish reproductive rights as a fundamental part of the state constitution. 

The petition covers all basic reproductive rights, such as contraception, vasectomies, tubal ligation, and infertility treatment. 

In Nevada, each proposed measure must address only a single subject, and as the initial petition covered all reproductive rights, it was challenged for being too broad.

Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom v. Washington

The petition from the abortion-rights group was held up in litigation since November when it was thrown out by Carson City District Judge James Russell. However, on Thursday the court ruled that reproductive rights pertained to a single subject, which gave the petition the green light.

"The initial version is much broader in scope; it included birth control and IVF as part of the definition for reproductive freedom. That got challenged in court and was thrown out by the district judge, saying it did not meet the single-subject rule. We knew that wasn't accurate, and all these services are all the same and all reproductive freedom, so we pursued that challenge in the Supreme Court and won unanimously," explained Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom Lindsey Harmon. 

Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom is moving forward with a narrower version of the initial reproductive rights petition that solely enshrines the right to access abortion, despite the clearance of the first version on Thursday. 

"We've been so far behind right now on the time constraints, we made a strategic decision to move forward with the narrower language, knowing that it was essential to get it on the ballot," said Harmon. 

They may have only been successful in getting the right to abortion access on the ballot. Still, they are not letting this setback prevent them from continuing their work toward seeking stronger statutory protections.

"We are moving on; we knew those services were all under the definition of reproductive freedom. We also knew that we have a lot of champions in the Legislature that will help us in the next [2025] session," said Harmon. 

After the Nevada Supreme Court's announcement, we reached out to the attorney for the Coalition for Parents and Children, Jason Guinasso. While Guinasso respects the Nevada Supreme Court's decision, he is concerned it will set a bad legal precedent. 

"The consequence of the court's ruling will be to open the floodgates to broad and deceptive initiative proposals like the one at issue in this case. If you review the legislative history of the law, this was precisely what the law was meant to prevent. Further, the court's analysis will likely render the single subject rule nugatory, and challenges based on single subject concerns will no longer be viable," said Jason Guinasso, Esq. 

The petition initiative will need to pass twice; this election cycle in 2024 and then during the 2026 midterms. If it does, it will provide more protection than the current statute, which was created by volunteers in 1990. 

"The 1990 referendum was passed with a group of volunteer women who went out and collected signatures on their own. I believe that, at the time, they needed to collect 35,000 signatures to get it on the ballot in 1990. So, the statutory protections were very much tied to the same language that was in Roe v. Wade and decided by the courts in 1973," explainede Harmon. 

Harmon tells us that Nevadans for Reproductive Rights have been working on the project since 2018 because they wanted to lock in reproductive freedoms in a state where it's broadly popular, and because Nevada is set to become a safe haven for those seeking abortion. 

"The Dobbs decision coming down was an impetus for us to move forward. I think a lot of states are facing that challenge. How do we protect access in our state? Especially in a state like Nevada, where we will be such an important part of the landscape, considering we now share borders with states like Utah, Idaho, and Arizona. We play an important part, and we needed to do everything we could to protect abortion access in our state," explained Harmon. 

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On Thursday, State Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro applauded the Nevada Supreme Court's unanimous ruling. 

"It has always been abundantly clear that reproductive rights encompass the full scope of reproductive health care services, and today's unanimous Nevada Supreme Court unequivocally reaffirms that principle. As we move forward, I am fully in support of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom's effort to advance their second petition focused on protecting abortion rights. Next session, the Legislature will take up additional measures to further protect birth control, IVF, and other critical reproductive health services; fringe radicals won't stop Nevada's progress," said (D-Las Vegas) Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro. 

During the 2023 legislative session, Leader Cannizzaro sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 7 and Senate Bill 131, which enhanced constitutional and statutory protections for reproductive health care. 

Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom has collected over 160,000 signatures for their second version. This is well above the required 103,000 signatures needed to present the petition before the voters in November. The aim of the group is to present 200,000 signatures by the deadline of June 26th, to be verified by the Secretary of State.