Nevada's Question 6 would add a fundamental right to abortion to the constitution

Nevada voters are deciding Question 6 in today's election. On the ballot it appears as State Question No. 6, an amendment to the Nevada Constitution arising from Initiative Petition C-05-2023 [s1].

This explainer uses the official ballot question and the Explanation and Digest published for voters by the county election department, which reproduce the statewide measure. It describes what the amendment would do; it says nothing about how the vote will come out.

The question on the ballot

The official ballot question asks: "Should the Nevada Constitution be amended to create an individual's fundamental right to an abortion, without interference by state or local governments, whenever the abortion is performed by a qualified healthcare professional until fetal viability or when necessary to protect the health or life of the pregnant individual at any point during the pregnancy?" [s1]

What the amendment would create

The official explanation states that the initiative, if approved, "amends the Nevada Constitution to create a constitutional right to abortion" [s1]. That right "would apply from the start of a person's pregnancy up until the start of 'fetal viability,'" unless "the pregnant person needs medical care to protect that person's life or health, in which case the right applies throughout the pregnancy" [s1].

The amendment also "includes the right to have an abortion procedure done by a qualified healthcare professional" [s1].

How "fetal viability" is defined

The measure defines the key term. "Fetal viability" means "the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient's treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus' sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures" [s1].

The definition is anchored to a clinician's judgment in the individual case rather than to a fixed number of weeks.

When the government could step in

The explanation states that Nevada and its local governments "generally cannot" interfere with the right, but may do so "if there is a 'compelling state interest'" [s1]. A compelling state interest "exists only if the government uses the least restrictive means to protect or improve the pregnant person's life or health in ways that follow clinical standards of practice" [s1].

The materials add that the proposed right "does not require or force any individual in Nevada to have an abortion"; it "creates a right that allows an individual to make their own decision" [s1]. A separate severability clause provides that if any part of the amendment is challenged in court, "the rest of the amendment is not affected and remains in force" [s1].

How it compares with current law

The official Digest describes the existing statutory baseline. Under current law, "abortions are legal in Nevada and must occur within 24 weeks after the start of the pregnancy," with an exception after 24 weeks "if a physician reasonably believes that an abortion is necessary to preserve the pregnant person's life or health" [s1]. Current law also requires that abortions performed after the 24th week "be performed in a hospital licensed by the State of Nevada" [s1].

The official summaries of the vote make the contrast explicit. A Yes vote "would create a new section of the Nevada Constitution to establish a person's constitutional right to abortion" [s1]. A No vote "would keep the Nevada Constitution in its current form and would not impact the availability of abortion as a statutory right under Nevada law" [s1].

Why the framing matters for care

The central effect of the measure is about where the protection lives, not about introducing a new service. Abortion is already legal by statute in Nevada; Question 6 would move the protection into the constitution and tie later-pregnancy access to a clinical viability judgment and a life-or-health standard [s1]. That distinction — statute versus constitution — is the substance voters are deciding.

What this article is not

This is a description of the ballot question and the official Explanation and Digest. It is not legal advice and not a forecast of the result.

What to watch

If approved, the practical questions become how the viability definition and the "compelling state interest" and "least restrictive means" standards are applied, since the amendment frames both around a treating practitioner's judgment and clinical standards of practice [s1].