A petition to put an abortion rights amendment to the Nevada constitution on the ballot for 2024 was struck down on Tuesday by district court judge in Carson City.
The petition was brought by Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom to enshrine abortion rights into the constitution with a public ballot question. Calling the petition too broad, District Court Judge James Russell ruled the document contained "too many subjects."
"It is clear to me this is probably the clearest case I have seen that I think there is a violation of the single-subject rule," Russell's ruling stated, according to KOLO. "I just, I've seen a lot of them over the years. And in respect to this particular matter, there are too many subjects — not all of which are functionally related to each other."
The Associated Press reported that the proposed amendment would amend the state constitution to include a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom," including abortion, abortion care, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, vasectomy, tubal ligation, and birth control, if passed by voters in the 2024 elections.
The measure was opposed in court by the Coalition for Parents and Children, a pro-life organization that argued the measure contained more than one subject, running afoul of Nevada law regulating what a petition could include.
Coalition representative Jason Guinasso argued that the proposed amendment would also protect the care providers and end up as an "unfunded mandate" for Nevada taxpayers.
"This initiative clearly violated the statue with regards to the kinds of initiatives that should be presented to the public so we can have an open and transparent debate," Guinasso told the station.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom along with allies Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union said it will appeal the decision to the state supreme court.
"We are optimistic about the ballot initiative as a whole; and, you know, we plan to appeal this," said Lindsey Harmon with Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom. "And we know that, in fact, these are all a single subject."
In order to move forward, the supreme court needs to overturn the lower court's ruling and the petition must get 100,000 signatures in the state by June to appear on the ballot. It would need to pass in both 2024 and 2026 to become part of the stare constitution, the report said.
Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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