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Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

CARSON CITY, Nevada (LifeSiteNews) — A self-professed Catholic and “pro-life” Republican governor signed pro-abortion legislation that codified his predecessor’s executive order and received the backing of Planned Parenthood.

Governor Joe Lombardo signed legislation on Tuesday that prohibits prosecution of abortionists in the state who break abortion laws in other states. The law essentially makes Nevada a safe haven for abortionists who want to secretly travel to pro-life states and commit abortions, as long as those are protected under Nevada law.

Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak, whom Lombardo defeated in 2022, issued his executive order shortly after the Supreme Court of the United States reversed Roe v. Wade and returned the issue of abortion back to the states in the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling.

One backer of the legislation is Planned Parenthood abortionist Kristina Tocce. “I am proud to submit this testimony in support of SB 131, a bill designed to protect Nevada abortion providers and out-of-state patients from the cruel and medically unnecessary abortion bans passed in other states,” Tocce wrote in an official letter in support. She is the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.

The signing fulfills a promise Lombardo made to never take any steps to prosecute abortionists or women for illegal abortions. “Joe is Catholic and pro-life, but Nevadans decided long ago that the issue of abortion should only be decided by Nevada voters themselves,” the governor wrote on his campaign website under the pro-abortion euphemism “Reproductive Health.”

Pro-life groups and the governor’s own party criticized the legislation.

“It says a lot that this bill which is supposedly about healthcare is being first heard in a Commerce committee, and not a health committee,” Nevada Republican Party National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid wrote on the official letterhead of the state party. “Nevada is a state known for tourism. Is abortion tourism really the tagline we want to use as an advertisement? ‘Come to Nevada, where our abortion limits are the same as China and North Korea?'”

“No matter your personal morality regarding abortion, the science is clear – abortion stops a beating heart,” the letter continued. “While Republicans don’t find that acceptable, some in this chamber do. But is that what you want our state to be known for? ‘Visit Nevada – the national leader in killing the unborn.’ That slogan is horrific. And yet that is exactly what the sponsors of this bill are proposing.”

“This bill also seeks to protect criminals. Nevada leads the nation in human trafficking, most of the victims starting while they are underage. This is a particular danger in Nevada, where there are no parental consent laws, and minors are able to get abortions without any adult notification,” the letter noted. “This is a heartbreaking, avoidable tragedy that casts a dark light on our bright cities. One of the most common tactics of pimps is forcing their female victims to have abortions – so that the flow of illicit money does not stop. ”

“Why is the entire Democratic caucus not united behind a bill to stop human trafficking into our state? To punish the pimps and save their victims? Perhaps because those victims don’t have the money to donate to their campaigns, while NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and other purveyors of death do,” the letter continued.

Don Nelson with Nevada Right to Life raised similar concerns about the bill’s effect on traffickers. “There have been undercover phone and other campaigns that show that abortion clinics do not report suspicions of statutory rape,” Nelson wrote. “This bill will have the effect of making NV a haven for those who would cover up and continue their abuse of girls that other states have worked to mitigate with their parental notification laws.”

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