Harris praises Nevada for protecting abortion rights

CARSON CITY — Vice President Kamala Harris applauded Nevada legislative leaders for their efforts to protect abortion rights Tuesday during a visit to Reno.

Just one day after state senators voted to approve a resolution to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution, Harris praised Nevada’s female majority Legislature for the move.

“What you’re doing here is so important because it is not only about the protection of the rights of the people of this state, but it is an example of the fact that these things can be done and it’s the right thing to do,” Harris said to a full auditorium at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, the primary sponsor of that measure, was seated in the crowd with a handful of other state lawmakers.

Joined on stage by Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and actress Rosario Dawson, the Democratic vice president slammed a recent court decision to suspend the government approval of a medication used for abortions as a “political attack” on the public health system.

“Everybody here, I’ve asked you to have a visual image of what is in your medicine cabinet,” Harris said. “For you, for the people you love, it might be asthma medication. It might be medication to address heart disease, diabetes, cancer. All of that has been approved by the FDA. Think about the precedent that is now being set to say, based on a political agenda, that you could basically take that out of somebody’s medicine cabinet.”

Conflicting rulings on abortion drug

Earlier this month, a judge in Texas ruled to block the federal government’s approval of mifepristone, a medication used in more than half all abortions in the United States. The ruling questions the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug in 2000, but an opinion released on the same day from a judge in Washington state ruled the drug is safe and ordered the FDA to continue its approval.

The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Biden administration’s request for an emergency stay on the ruling after the Texas judge’s ruling was blocked by a federal appeals court, which still allowed some restrictions to accessing the drug.

The rulings come after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and gave individual states the power to regulate abortion. Since then, more than a dozen states have banned or severely limited access to abortion.

Harris slammed the leaders in those states for limiting access to reproductive care.

“We predicted it might happen and it has,” she said. “Laws are being proposed around our country by extremist so-called leaders that would criminalize health care providers, literally providing for jail time for health care providers. Laws that would punish women. Laws that don’t even make an exception for the violence and violation of raping and incest.”

Republican National Committee spokesperson Rachel Lee slammed Harris’ visit in a statement that did not address the abortion issue.

“Seemingly every American but Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and Democrats is keenly aware of one thing: it’s Tax Day. Harris’ silence on soaring costs and taxes is an insult to the students, families, and seniors who would be footing the bill for Democrats’ reckless $6.9 trillion tax-and-spending spree,” Lee said in a statement.

Expanding rights in Nevada

Abortion is protected in Nevada by a more than three-decade old voter referendum that can only be repealed by another vote of the people. That hasn’t stopped lawmakers from introducing several bills to expand protections for reproductive health care.

On Monday, lawmakers in the state Senate voted on party lines to approve Senate Joint Resolution 7, a resolution that would guarantee an individual’s right to an abortion and would block the state from prosecuting an individual for exercising their right to reproductive freedom. If passed during this legislative session and again during the session in 2025, it will be placed on the ballot in 2026.

Lawmakers are also considering Senate Bill 131, a bill that would codify former Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s executive order protecting out of state patients seeking abortions from prosecution by other states where the procedure is illegal. The state legislature is also considering Assembly Bill 383, which would a establish the right to birth control.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.