RENO, NV – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) hosted a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Office of the Governor, the Office of the Attorney General, and Nevada reproductive rights organizations to discuss the future of reproductive health care and how a nationwide abortion ban would harm Nevadans. In 1990, Nevada voters passed a statewide referendum with nearly two-thirds support for protecting abortion rights. A nationwide abortion ban would supersede it and the will of Nevada voters.
“Reproductive freedoms have been protected in Nevada as part of our state law for decades, but those very freedoms could be now at risk,” said Senator Rosen. “We had a detailed discussion today about all of the ways Nevada is protecting reproductive rights, and how I will continue working with our Democratic Senate majority to block any efforts to enact a nationwide abortion ban.”
“Under Governor Steve Sisolak, Nevada has made great strides to expand access to reproductive rights and protect the right to choose. In 2019, the Governor decriminalized medicated abortions, removed antiquated informed consent laws and allocated additional funds for family planning services,” said Erica Roth, Deputy General Counsel for Governor Steve Sisolak. “The Governor has continued to work with partners across the state to expand access to care, including recently signing an executive order to protect those seeking services in Nevada following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and launching a new State website to provide resources and recourse for predatory practices.”
“I’m proud to work for an Attorney General who values reproductive rights and respects the dignity of people to make their own health care decisions,” said Jessica Adair Brinich, Chief of Staff for Attorney General Aaron Ford. “From protecting abortion rights, to suing against the Trump rule to remove insurance coverage for contraception, to fighting against Trump dismantling the Title X contraception program for low-income and rural Nevada women, the Attorney General’s Office will continue to stand against any efforts to take away the health care rights of Nevadans.”
“The right to abortion is locked into law in the state of Nevada—and that’s why our state must continue to be a leader for reproductive freedom. NARAL Pro-Choice Nevada and our 48,000 members will be working hard to ensure that happens,” said Caroline Mello Roberson, Southwest Regional Director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. “We’ll be working to break down barriers to abortion access, birth control access, and more to ensure that every Nevadan and those who may travel to the state has access to the care they need.”
“The risk that a federal abortion ban poses to abortion rights in the state of Nevada cannot be understated. While Nevada’s state-level protections for abortion have been a key piece in the fight to protect access after the fall of Roe v. Wade, they are at risk if anti-abortion politicians enact a federal abortion ban,” said Lindsey Harmon, Executive Director at Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada. “The confusion, pain and unnecessary strife to access what was at the start of this year federally-protected, basic health care caused by the overturning of Roe v. Wade is just a glimpse of what reproductive health care could look like in the wake of a federal ban. Not only is it cruel, but it goes against what the majority of Nevadans, and more broadly Americans, want when it comes to abortion rights regardless of party.”
Senator Rosen continues to help lead the fight against Republican attempts to ban abortions and restrict women’s reproductive rights. She helped introduce the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act which ensures that providers in states where abortion remains legal are protected from any efforts to restrict their practice or create uncertainty about their legal liability. She also helped introduce the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act to prevent anti-choice states from limiting a woman’s ability to travel for reproductive care.
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