LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Nevada made abortion legal within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy more than three decades ago.
Question 6 seeks to take it a step further. It takes abortion rights out of the hands of the legislature and into the hands of the voter by enshrining it as a right in the Nevada Constitution.
A ‘yes’ vote would make it very hard to restrict access to the procedure in the future.
Question 6 asks
Lindsey Harmon is the President of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom. The political action committee is leading the campaign behind Question 6. Harmon believes it’s about more than abortion rights.
“This amendment is about control over your own body and making decisions for yourself about your body,” Harmon said. “We believe those are constitutional rights and belong in the Constitution.”
Right now, a woman can legally get the procedure within 24 weeks of conception, later if the pregnancy puts the mother’s life or health at risk.
Question 6 would make getting an abortion more than an option, it makes it a right up until the time a fetus can survive outside the womb. That’s typically 23-24 weeks.
Krystal Minera-Alvis is the Communications Director for the pro-life advocacy and lobbying group Nevada Right to Life. She argued if the procedure is already legal, there’s no reason to add it to the Nevada Constitution.
“It’s really so redundant because it’s already in our Nevada law for abortion to be legal,” added Minera-Alvis.
Pro-choice advocates like Harmon told FOX5 Nevadans can’t take any chances, especially after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and after neighboring states like Arizona and Utah have restricted abortion access.
“The threat of a national abortion ban is very real,” Harmon continued. “States like Nevada, who believe in freedom over our own bodies, who want to keep elected officials out of exam rooms, get to take an issue on this.”
“It’s already legal,” Minera Alvis rebutted. “You can already get it done and right now there are at least some protections and some safeguards for women for it to happen in the safest way possible.”
This election is only the first step for Question 6.
In order for abortion to become a constitutional right, voters have to pass it twice. The first time would be the 2024 general election and again in 2026.
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