Nevada Representatives express anger over Arizona abortion decision

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Two of Nevada’s Representatives, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford, are expressing their dismay and anger over a decision rendered by the Arizona Supreme Court to revive an 1864 law criminalizing abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Tuesday’s decision will not go into effect for at least two weeks.

Lee had this to say about the decision:

“This devastating decision is yet another example of anti-choice extremists’ plan to ban abortion nationwide. I’m heartbroken for Arizona women whose fundamental freedom to make decisions about their own bodies has been stripped away from them overnight.

“This decision will not prevent abortions. It will only force women seeking reproductive care in anti-choice states to flee their homes for freer states like Nevada, where our clinics are already overwhelmed. Planned Parenthood clinics in Las Vegas have seen a 37 percent increase in out-of-state patients while clinics across the West have seen increased wait times.

“I’m leading legislation in Congress to help women find and access reproductive care. But until we codify the protections of Roe v. Wade nationwide, these infringements on women’s rights will continue. I won’t rest until every woman has the freedom to make her own healthcare choices.”

Representative Horsford, meanwhile, blamed former President Trump, saying:

“Donald Trump did this. He proudly boasts that his hand-picked U.S. Supreme Court delivered the repeal of Roe v. Wade. This decision in Arizona upholds a law passed 160 years ago, enacted in the Civil War-era and before Arizona was even a state.

“States like Nevada, which protect the rights of women and the health care providers that provide them care, are at risk if a national abortion ban upends these protections. In the short term, it means Nevada will be a haven for the women of Arizona, potentially pushing women’s healthcare resources here to the limit.

“My opponents have promised to be the ‘most pro-life’ if they’re elected. Does that mean they support the repeal of our state laws that currently protect women?  Do they support a national abortion ban, restrictions on medication abortion, or legal interpretations that take away a family’s ability to use IVF? What is their line?  I think everyone on the ballot this year needs to be asked to answer these questions and many more.

“I trust women to make decisions about their healthcare, including difficult decisions around abortion and reproductive care. It should not be the role of the government to limit or restrict health care choices to women or anyone else. That’s why I have co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act as well as the EACH Act, the Right to Contraception Act, and other bills that reverse this war on women’s choice. I joined with over 260 Members of the House and Senate on a legal brief to the Supreme Court as they hear a case that can determine whether a woman whose life is at risk would be prohibited from getting an abortion that could save her life.

“Nevadans need to know where every candidate stands on these questions. Donald Trump has said before, ‘What do you have to lose?’ and frankly, with a Republican House and Senate, women, in this case, would have too much to lose.”

Representative Mark Amodei did not comment.