CARSON CITY, Nevada (LifeSiteNews) — Legislation to enshrine a right to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, up until the moment of birth, is moving forward in Nevada.
The legislation passed both state houses and has been sent to the secretary of state. Senate Joint Resolution 7 would need to be passed again in the next legislature and then would go on the ballot for a vote.
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The proposed law “guarantees each individual in this state a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” and “authorizes the state to regulate abortion care after fetal viability with certain exceptions.” However, these regulations would appear to be practically meaningless since the amendment to the state constitution also “prevents the state from penalizing, prosecuting, or taking any other adverse action against an individual or entity for exercising the right to reproductive freedom or for aiding or assisting another individual in exercising his or her right to reproductive freedom.”
The amendment would add this language to the constitution:
Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including, without limitation, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, vasectomy, tubal ligation, abortion, abortion care, management of a miscarriage, and infertility care. The right of an individual to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means available.
While the law would amend Nevada’s constitution, its supporters have admitted that it would allow the state to become an abortion travel destination for women in other states that have prohibited abortion. The Wild West Access Fund of Nevada – a group that raises money to fund abortions – endorsed the legislation, citing the travel costs associated with coming to the state. “Nevadans will fight for
everyone to make their own healthcare decisions.”
Pro-life and legal groups spoke out against the legislation in submitted letters of opposition.
The Pacific Justice Institute warned the bill would “grant a constitutional carte blanche for any abortionist to operate unchecked and unlicensed.”
The legal group’s analysis confirmed the the language would allow for abortions up until the moment of birth because it defers to the healthcare professional’s judgement. “This unrestricted discretion can authorize abortion up to the moment of birth.”
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Janine Hansen, the president of Nevada Families for Freedom, reached a similar conclusion.
“The doctor-butchers who perform abortions are completely protected by SJR7, as are adults who aid minor girls in getting secret abortions. Predators can force young girls to get an abortion to cover their crimes,” she warned. “Of course, there is no protection or recognition of fundamental parental rights to be the guardians of their underage daughters.”
“SJR7 provides absolutely no restrictions on abortions what-so-ever because all you need is a quack abortionist to say in his ‘professional judgment that the abortion is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of a pregnant individual’… not the woman or the mother but the generic individual,” Hansen stated.
A prominent legal group also warned that the amendment would enable sex-traffickers and lead to further violations of conscience rights.
The amendment “threatens the freedom of conscience of Nevada’s healthcare professionals and precludes the enactment and enforcement of commonsense, protective laws such as parental involvement for minors’ abortions and informed consent,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Burke wrote. “It will force Nevada taxpayers to pay for abortions, as well as contraception, sterilizations, infertility treatment, and even the surgical removal of healthy reproductive organs.”
She also warned that taxpayers “will be forced to fund these services for non-residents, including having sex-traffickers bring their victims to Nevada to procure free abortions all while avoiding criminal liability for their actions.”
Furthermore, the vagueness of the amendment could be used by activist judges to find a “right” to transgender drugs and surgeries, Burke warned. The amendment “will likely be interpreted by Nevada courts to encompass other medical procedures such as the removal of healthy reproductive organs and the provision of cross-sex hormones and other harmful chemicals that alter the normal functioning of the male or female body.”
Burke said that the amendment would go “dangerously beyond” Roe v. Wade in establishing abortion as a “fundamental right.”