Bucking the antiabortion political trends in several other states, the Nevada state Assembly approved a pro-choice bill on Tuesday to remove criminal penalties for people who terminate a pregnancy without consulting a physician.
The Trust Nevada Women Act, which passed on a 27-13 vote, would also decriminalize other abortion-related actions, such as selling miscarriage-inducing medications. It would remove requirements that doctors tell pregnant people about the “emotional implications” of an abortion.
With the state Senate having passed the bill last month, it now goes to Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), who is expected to sign it, per the New York Times.
The Nevada vote comes as measures severely restricting abortion rights have advanced elsewhere in the U.S. Alabama has been in the spotlight for recently enacting the nation’s most sweeping curtailment of such rights, a law that bans abortions in all cases except when a pregnant woman’s life is endangered.
Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah, Louisiana and Missouri are among the other states that have approved new laws or are considering ones that significantly limit legal abortions.
On the flip side, lawmakers in Illinois and Maine seek to pass legislation that would further protect access to abortion.
Nevada made history this year when its new legislature convened as the first in the U.S. in which a majority of its members are women. That’s in sharp contrast to Alabama, where all the votes that passed the near-total ban on abortion were cast by men. Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed the bill into law last week.
On Tuesday, abortion rights activists participated in hundreds of demonstrations nationwide as part of the National Day of Action to Stop the Bans, in response to the escalating legislative efforts to limit abortion rights.
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