From the pulpit connected Sunday, the Archdiocese of Las Vegas encouraged Catholics crossed 5 counties to ballot nary connected ballot Question 6, which would marque termination — already ineligible successful Nevada — a law right.
The question would grow existing termination rights to facilitate late-term abortions, ratify removal of parental notification for minors, and region the request that a licensed doc execute an abortion, Archbishop George Leo Thomas wrote successful a pastoral missive work during Mass astatine churches crossed the archdiocese’s 34 parishes.
“This question is not whether termination is ineligible successful Nevada; it already is nether a instrumentality approved by Nevada voters successful 1990. The Legislature cannot amend oregon repeal that law; lone a nonstop ballot of the radical tin bash so,” Thomas wrote successful the letter, posted Sunday to the Facebook leafage of the archdiocese.
“This question is whether Nevada voters should grow the close to termination successful ways that tin harm the health, safety, and payment of women and minors. Moreover, this measurement volition person sedate and lasting consequences for susceptible unborn lives.”
Denise Lopez, president of governmental enactment committee Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, responded with a connection Monday successful which she wrote, “Anti-abortion groups and politicians are hellbent connected coming aft Nevadans’ reproductive freedom. Our opponents are resorting to fear-mongering and lies due to the fact that they cognize their docket is profoundly unpopular.”
The PAC, an advocacy coalition, is starring the effort to walk Question 6.
“It’s captious we walk Question 6 to enshrine protections for termination successful our authorities constitution and marque definite that backstage aesculapian decisions stay wherever they beryllium – betwixt patients and their doctors, not the government,” Lopez wrote.
The Nevada Catholic Conference, which includes the Diocese of Reno, opposes the measure.
In the past, the archdiocese and Nevada Catholic Conference person issued a missive oregon connection erstwhile a projected instrumentality intersects with a motivation issue. In 2021, they opposed authorities that would person permitted physician-assisted suicide. That measurement failed.
Nonprofits specified arsenic the archdiocese, exempt from national income taxation and eligible to person tax-deductible donations, tin legally lobby connected governmental issues but not for circumstantial governmental candidates.
Likewise, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has work from the pulpit a missive opposing Question 6, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. A religion spokesperson declined to remark connected the letter, referring the Las Vegas Review-Journal to a religion website stating its absorption to elective abortion, with immoderate exceptions.
A nary ballot connected Question 6 “would support the Nevada Constitution successful its existent signifier and would not interaction the availability of termination arsenic a statutory close nether Nevada law,” states a caller ballot question guide issued by Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, caput of the authorities bureau that oversees elections.
Changing the existing authorities instrumentality would necessitate 1 bulk ballot of the people, portion changing the constitution would necessitate 2 specified votes.
Question 6, approved erstwhile by Nevada voters successful 2024 by a wide margin, requires a 2nd affirmative ballot successful November earlier it could beryllium added arsenic an amendment to the state’s constitution.
Almost two-thirds of voters – 64.4 percent – approved the ballot measurement successful 2024.
About 750,000 radical are registered with parishes successful the archdiocese, which includes the counties of Clark, Nye, Lincoln, White Pine and Esmeralda.
Twenty-one percent of adults successful Nevada place arsenic Catholic, the largest spiritual affiliation successful the state, according to 2023-2024 figures from the Pew Research Group.
Abortion clip frame
Thomas wrote astir the ballot question, “It dangerously expands termination rights. Abortion, already ineligible successful Nevada up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, would perchance beryllium permitted to the ninth period of pregnancy.”
The authoritative rebuttal to arguments against passage, recovered successful the caput of state’s guide, states, “Women and doctors bash not determine connected an termination aboriginal successful gestation unless determination is simply a superior reason, similar a hazard to her beingness oregon pregnancy.”
The rebuttal was authored by the ballot question committee of Lopez, Lindsey Harmon and Bradley Schrager — each affiliated with Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom.
Existing Nevada instrumentality allows termination without regularisation up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. It besides permits termination aft the six-month clip framework “only if the doc has tenable origin to judge that an termination presently is indispensable to sphere the beingness oregon wellness of the large woman.”
The connection of the projected law amendment does not specify however galore weeks into a gestation an termination is permitted without restriction.
“Question 6 has nary bright-line regularisation saying erstwhile termination is legal,” states the authoritative statement against passage. “Is it ever ineligible astatine 4 months? 6 months? 9 months? Our existent instrumentality is clear. Question 6 is not.”
The statement against transition was authored by the ballot question committee of attorneys Emily Mimnaugh and Jason Guinasso. Mimnaugh established the Nevada bureau of the Pacific Justice Institute, a nonprofit focused connected defending spiritual state and parental rights.
The projected amendment to the constitution states, “All individuals shall person a cardinal close to termination performed oregon administered by a qualified wellness attraction practitioner until fetal viability, oregon erstwhile needed to support the beingness oregon wellness of the large patient, without interference from the authorities oregon its governmental subdivisions.”
It continues, “’Fetal viability’ means the constituent successful gestation when, successful the nonrecreational judgement of the patient’s treating wellness attraction practitioner, determination is simply a important likelihood of the fetus’ sustained endurance extracurricular the uterus without the exertion of bonzer aesculapian measures.”
Parental notification
The archbishop’s missive states that the law amendment “ratifies removal of parental notification and household engagement from termination decisions made by insignificant children.”
It continues, “Parental consent is required to springiness a pupil Tylenol; this inaugural would let a insignificant to get an termination without a genitor adjacent knowing.”
Thomas said successful an interview, “I deliberation that close now, portion of the strategy for those who are proffering this presumption is to support the nationalist successful the dark. I deliberation that the full happening astir parental engagement would beryllium a precise immense contented for a immense bulk of families, and truthful there’s precise small being said oregon written astir it.”
The ballot committee’s rebuttal to arguments against transition states that the amendment “does thing to alteration parental rights successful Nevada, due to the fact that we each privation young radical to get the enactment they request from those who emotion them erstwhile making decisions.”
It continues, “All this amendment does is guarantee families – not politicians – are successful complaint of their ain wellness attraction decisions and tin marque the close prime for their unsocial situations without authorities getting successful the way.”
The contented of parental notification is playing retired successful court.
In May, the Nevada Supreme Court temporarily blocked a instrumentality requiring parents to beryllium notified erstwhile minors question an abortion, ruling that the measurement is excessively vague to enforce.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which operates successful California and Nevada, and an unnamed Nevada doc are challenging the instrumentality successful authorities court. The Supreme Court determination blocked enforcement of the instrumentality arsenic the lawsuit moves forward.
The parental-notification instrumentality had gone unenforced for decades but took effect successful July 2025. A national justice ruled that aft Roe v. Wade was overturned successful 2022, determination was nary longer a ineligible ground to support the 1985 instrumentality from taking effect.
Replaces licensed doc requirement
Thomas’ missive states that Question 6 would “replace the ‘licensed physician’ request for termination with ‘health attraction practitioner,’ a word that could see nurses, dentists, opticians and aesculapian laboratory technicians … and severely threatens the State’s quality to modulate termination clinics for basal health, safety, and sanitary conditions.”
The authoritative rebuttal states, “When families are making difficult, idiosyncratic aesculapian decisions, one-size-fits each laws don’t work. As bans crossed the state are already putting lives astatine risk, this amendment adds a imperishable furniture of extortion for termination rights successful Nevada truthful that nary substance who holds bureau successful our state, these utmost bans cannot go instrumentality here.”
Thomas states successful his letter, “Unborn children person nary dependable and cannot support themselves. As Catholics, our religion requires america to support the inherent dignity of each quality beingness and to talk for those who cannot talk for themselves.”
The Nevada Independent reported successful July that Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom had raised $815,000 successful the archetypal fractional of the twelvemonth for its run successful enactment of the measure, with six-figure checks from Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte, a salient Bay Area Democratic donor and a radical founded by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Opposition to the question had raised $11,700 from 2 PACs, $10,000 of which came from a mates successful Carson City.
Thomas said, “It’s each uphill for us.”
Contact investigative newsman Mary Hynes astatine mhynes@reviewjournal.com oregon astatine 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 connected X.
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