Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo has signed a bill aimed at creating legal protections for abortion patients and providers in Nevada.
Senate Bill 131, a bill that codifies an existing executive order protecting abortion providers in Nevada who provide care to out-of-state patients as well as the out-of-state abortion patients themselves.
Among the provisions outlined in the bill:
-Prohibiting heath care licensing boards from disqualifying from licensure or disciplining a person for providing or assisting in the provision of certain reproductive health care services
-Prohibiting the Governor from surrendering or issuing an arrest warrant for a person charged in another state with a criminal violation related to certain reproductive health care services
-Prohibiting state agencies from assisting in certain investigations and proceedings initiated in other states related to certain reproductive health care services.
Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro released the following statement on Twitter:
"I want thank Governor Lombardo for following through on his commitment to ensure that Nevada won't participate in prosecutions of women who come here to exercise their reproductive rights."
Statement of Lindsey Harmon, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada:
“We applaud the Nevada Assembly for voting to pass SB131. Nevada has a long history of supporting abortion rights and access, and it is more important than ever that we continue to uphold this legacy in the face of increasing attacks against the right in our neighboring states and even at the federal level. Protections for our abortion providers and the patients who come to our state seeking care are a vitally important step in acknowledging the present national abortion access landscape and Nevada’s role as a safe haven state.
Poll after poll shows us that the people of Nevada also support these protections despite national attacks against our rights. We are grateful to Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and her fellow legislators who voted in favor of this bill at every step of the process and we hope that Governor Lombardo takes the broad support for these measures into account when this bill arrives at his desk.”
