The Nevada Supreme Court unanimously greenlit the language of an abortion rights amendment Thursday, putting it on track to feature on the state’s November ballot.
A state district judge had blocked the secretary of state from putting the initiative on the ballot, finding that it contained multiple subjects and was misleading, among other things.
The supreme court reversed, finding that the amendment uniformly addressed “reproductive freedom.” It also shot down a common complaint in such initiative challenges, that the brief amendment text doesn’t address every possible ramification it could have.
“Although Washington and the district court express concern with the failure to address specific effects of the petition, we reiterate that a description of effect cannot be required to address all possible ramifications of an initiative in the limited 200-word summary,” Chief Justice Lidia Stiglich wrote for the court.
The initiative is just one of two that the group Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom is backing to appear on the 2024 ballot. A second one, launched later, more selectively addresses abortion rights versus a gamut of reproductive care, from birth control to miscarriage treatment. The campaign must submit at least 102,362 signatures in late June for each.
If either passes, voters will have to pass it again in 2026 to enshrine it in the state constitution. Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled legislature passed a resolution in 2023 to solidify a state constitutional abortion right; if the legislature does so again in 2025, as expected, that provision will appear on the ballot before voters in 2026.
Still, Democrats including President Joe Biden and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), both running for reelection, will welcome either proposal’s spot on the ballot this year. The state joins neighboring Arizona in featuring an abortion rights amendment, which Democrats are banking on juicing their base’s turnout in the hotly contested states.
Read the Nevada court’s ruling below:
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