Nevada voted to make abortion a constitutional right. What to know about key ballot measures

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This article was published 05/11/2024 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A ballot question to enshrine Nevada’s abortion rights in the state constitution has received its first nod of approval from voters, who must also approve the measure in 2026 in order to amend the constitution.

The measure passed early Wednesday morning.

It’s a win for supporters in the state and elsewhere who are fighting to strengthen abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that made abortion legal nationwide for 50 years. It also comes more than 30 years after Nevada residents voted to legalize abortions until 24 weeks, with exceptions to save a mother’s life or to protect her health.

Here’s a closer look at the key ballot measures that went before Nevada voters, including abortion access:

Abortion rights

Nevada overwhelmingly voted to pass the abortion ballot measure, one of several victories for abortion rights advocates.

If it again passes in 2026, the constitutional amendment wouldn’t expand current access in the state, but supporters and organizers of the initiative say it will add an extra layer of protection.

State laws in Nevada are more vulnerable to change — the current 1990 law could be reversed by another voter referendum — but proposed amendments to the state constitution have to pass in two consecutive elections.

Las Vegas resident Laura Campbell, 36, said she was relieved that Nevada is now one step closer to making abortion a state constitutional right. Without Nevada’s current protections, Campbell said she isn’t sure she would be alive today.

At 27 weeks, she said she learned that her pregnancy was nonviable, meaning the fetus couldn’t survive outside her womb. But her doctor took her hand and promised to take care of her, and a year later, she gave birth to her daughter, now 3.

“Nevadans have spoken,” Campbell said Wednesday morning. “A decision about an abortion should be between a woman, her family and medical provider — not politicians.”

Opponents said the ballot measure goes too far because it wouldn’t outright define “fetal viability” in the constitution.

Anti-abortion group Nevada Right to Life also said in a recent ad that the initiative was “deceptively worded” because it doesn’t make clear that abortion is already legal in the state. A spokesperson for the group didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Voting process

A sweeping measure failed that would have upended the way votes are cast in the key swing state with open primaries and ranked choice voting in general elections starting in 2026.

The measure narrowly passed in 2022 and needed to pass again this year, but it fell short Tuesday. The measure would not have affected presidential elections or races for local office.

Supporters of the measure had said opening up primaries would have given a voice to more than 1 million registered voters in the state who don’t currently have a say in the nomination of major-party candidates for Congressional races and statewide office. Nonpartisan voters outnumber registered Democrats and Republicans in Nevada, while 42% of voters do not belong to one of the major parties.

The citizen-led initiative faced opposition from both Republican and Democratic party leaders who said the measure was too broad and that ranked choice voting was too confusing.

Meanwhile, voters gave a nod of approval to a Republican-led initiative that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls. Voters must again pass the measure in 2026 before the requirement can be added to the state constitution.

Forced labor removed from law

Nevada voted to abolish slavery and indentured servitude as a criminal punishment, which was still on the books in the state constitution. The measure passed Tuesday.

Supporters of the initiative said it was a step in the right direction for civil rights. The measure is aimed at protecting incarcerated people from being forced to work under the threat of punishment.

Nevada incarcerates about 10,000 people. Prisoners in the state are required to work or be in vocational training for 40 hours each week, unless they have a medical exemption. Some of them make as little as 35 cents hourly.

Nevada joins several other states — Colorado, Alabama and Tennessee — that have in recent years done away with exceptions for slavery and involuntary servitude, though the changes were not immediate.

In Colorado — the first state to get rid of an exception for slavery from its constitution in 2018 — incarcerated people alleged in a 2022 lawsuit against the corrections department that they were still forced to work.

“The momentum we’ve built in Nevada, coupled with our achievements in seven other states, strengthens our resolve to continue this work nationwide,” Jamilia Land, co-founder of the Abolish Slavery National Network, which advocated for the Colorado measure, said in a statement. “We are unwavering in our commitment to remove involuntary servitude from every state constitution.”

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Associated Press reporter Sophie Austin contributed to this report.