Nevada officials have officially approved a proposed abortion access amendment to the state constitution to appear on the November ballot.
The move was announced late Friday by organizers behind the vote and Nevada’s secretary of state. This is Nevada the sixth state putting the issue of abortion rights directly before voters in this year’s election.
“The support this initiative has received from Nevadans throughout the signature process shows what we know right: Nevadans believe that health care decisions about abortion should be made by women, their doctors and the people they love and trust, not politicians,” said Lindsey Harmon, president of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, which is behind the effort. .
In May, the group announced he collected more than 200,000 signatures from registered voters — more than the 103,000 needed to continue the process of qualifying his proposal for the ballot. Nevada’s secretary of state said Friday night that he had verified those signatures and concluded that all requirements had been met for the amendment to appear on the November ballot.
Abortion is now legal in Nevada up to the 24th week of pregnancy. But fearing that such rights may be revoked in the future, reproductive rights they looked for lawyers put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would put similar language — protecting abortion rights until fetal viability — to make it impossible for lawmakers to ever remove the protections.
Under state law, even if the measure passes in November, voters would have to approve it again in 2026 before it can be formally amended to Nevada’s constitution.
The ballot measure could help boost Democratic turnout in Nevada, a battleground state that hosts competitive races for president and U.S. Senate.
Constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights will now appear on the general election ballot in six states this fall. The others are Florida, Maryland, New York, South Dakota and Colorado.
Organizers in five other states – Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana and Nebraska – are working to develop similar ballot measures.