An amendment that would enshrine abortion access in the Nevada state constitution is one step closer to being on the November 2024 ballot after reproductive rights advocates submitted the required number of signatures to state officials on Monday. .
State officials will now have to scrutinize the signatures and fully certify the ballot amendments by July 8.
The group leading the movement, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, said it had collected more than 200,000 signatures from registered voters. That’s far more than the 103,000 people needed to get the group’s proposal on the ballot.
The group also said it had met the requirement that the total number of signatures exceed a certain amount in each of the state’s four congressional districts.
The group had a June 26 deadline to submit signatures.
“The number of signatures collected in just over three months shows how deeply Nevadans believe in abortion rights and their importance at this moment in our nation’s history,” said Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom. Chairman Lindsey Harmon said at a press conference on Monday.
Abortion is already legal in Nevada until the 24th week of pregnancy. But reproductive rights advocates, concerned that such rights could be revoked in the future, have called for a constitutional amendment to be passed that would enshrine similar language (protecting the right to abortion until the fetus is viable). It was. Remove protection.
But even if the measure passes in November, voters will have to approve it again in 2026 before the Nevada Constitution can be formally amended under state law.
The ballot measure could help boost Democratic turnout in battleground states where presidential and U.S. Senate races are being held.
Nevada is one of 11 states where organizers are seeking to enshrine the right to abortion into the state constitution through a citizen-initiated ballot initiative. The measure is officially on the ballot in Colorado, Maryland, Florida and South Dakota.
