LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada could become the 18th state to employ Medicaid funds to provide low-income women with better access to abortion.
The change is the result of a court ruling that became official this week after the state government declined to appeal within 30 days of issuing a written opinion. The ruling found that denying health insurance violates equal protections that the state’s voters decided to pass in 2022. Nevada authorities have not said when the health insurance will begin, but the judge said it should be no later than early November.
“Nevada residents who have health insurance through Medicaid no longer have to fear being forced into pregnancy against their will,” Rebecca Chan, an attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, which filed a lawsuit in the case, said in a statement.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and ended federal abortion rights, the issue has been a legal and political battleground. Most Republican-led states have enacted bans or restrictions, including 14 that now ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with some exceptions and four more that generally ban it after about the first six weeks of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have taken steps to protect abortion access.
Nevada, with a Republican governor and a Democratic-controlled legislature, has protected access. Voters will consider enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution in November. If the bill passes, there will be a second vote in 2026.
In addition to whether a state bans or restricts abortion, another key factor in its availability is whether it covers the cost of abortion for those covered by Medicaid, the state-wide program for low-income people.
Under a 1977 law, federal funds cannot be used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and when the abortion is necessary to save the life of the pregnant person. However, states can employ their funds to fund abortions in more circumstances.
The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that advocates for abortion rights, says most comply with federal law even when it comes to state funding — or do so, but with some additional exceptions.
But 17 of them pay for abortions without restrictions. Nine of them are authorized by the courts and eight cover the costs of voluntary abortions.
According to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health issues, about a third of all women ages 15 to 49 live in states where abortion is not banned but only rarely covered by Medicaid. And about one in five women in those states are insured through Medicaid. Medicaid’s enrollees are disproportionately low-income people, Native Americans and black people.
