With 2nd approval of Question 6 , voters can secure abortion rights in state constitution

Nevadans this year have the opportunity to double down on the state’s abortion protections with Question 6.

Abortion in Nevada is currently legal up to 24 weeks after the start of the pregnancy and after 24 weeks if a physician believes the pregnant person’s life or health is at risk. Those protections were put in place via a citizen-driven referendum passed by voters in 1990 and would require a direct vote of the people to change.

That is a fairly high bar to overcome, but given the onslaught of attacks on reproductive rights across the nation under the Trump administration, advocates want the bar to be even higher.

Question 6 would establish abortion as a fundamental right in the state constitution, which also requires a vote of the people to amend. It would protect abortion until “fetal viability,” which by definition would be something determined by the patient’s health care practitioner. Abortions beyond that point would also be legal if needed to protect the pregnant person’s life or health.

Nevadans approved Question 6 in 2024 with 64% support — around the same percentage the 1990 referendum passed by. As a petition-driven constitutional amendment, Question 6 needs to pass a second time to go into effect.

The existing statute and the proposed constitutional amendment align with the federal protections that existed for nearly five decades before being overturned in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Reproductive Freedom for All, which is part of the coalition that qualified Nevada’s Question 6, has previously said that polling and focus groups after the 2024 election revealed that many Americans simply did not believe Trump would actually attempt to ban or restrict abortion. They are hoping that the “Trump believability gap” has closed since and that voters will be motivated during this year’s midterm elections to support candidates who support abortion rights.

The organization this week launched a $1 million canvassing program in Nevada. Michigan and Arizona. Their efforts will support Nevada’s U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, who is facing Republican challenger Marty O’Donnell. O’Donnell, a video game composer endorsed by Trump, has compared abortion to the “Holocaust” and described it as “satanic.”

Nevada is one of several states where abortion is on the ballot this year. Voters in Virginia, where abortion is legal by statute, are also considering strengthening their protections by adding a right to reproductive freedom in their state constitution. Voters in Idaho, which currently has a near-total abortion ban, will consider establishing a statutory right to abortion until fetal viability.

Meanwhile in Missouri, voters will be asked to reconsider their constitutional right to an abortion, which they passed just two years ago in 2024.