Vice President Kamala Harris to promote Nevada’s abortion rights ballot measure during campaign stop

During a campaign stop in Las Vegas on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris will promote Nevada’s ballot measure to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution.

The Biden-Harris campaign will help collect signatures for the ballot initiative, a Biden-Harris campaign official told CBS News. In Nevada, the initiative is being led by Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom political action committee. If enough signatures are obtained, Nevadans will get to vote during the general election on enshrining abortion access for up to 24 weeks in the state’s constitution.

According to the campaign official, Vice President Harris will encourage Nevada voters to support the efforts, as they are “an important step to protect against extremist state lawmakers who may try to adopt another ‘Trump abortion ban‘ in the future.'”

As of early April, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom announced the collection of over 110,000 signatures ahead of the June 26 qualification deadline. In order to be on the 2024 ballot, 102, 362 signatures must be submitted. Of those, 25,591 must come from each of Nevada’s four congressional districts. 

The political group said it was actively collecting signatures from all districts. 

“With more than 110,000 signatures gathered in less than six weeks, it’s a true testament to the fact that Nevadans recognize the importance in codifying reproductive freedom into our state constitution,” said president Lindsey Harmon.

Harris’ trip to Nevada marks her second campaign stop focused on abortion rights in 2024, as abortion continues to be a mobilizing issue for Democrats. It also comes on the heels of the vice president’s trip to Arizona on Friday after the state’s supreme court upheld an 1864 law that severely restricts abortions. 

“Former President Donald Trump did this,” Harris told her crowd in Tucson. “Donald Trump is the architect of this healthcare crisis.”

In Nevada, Harris is expected to once again blame abortion bans on Trump and warn voters that a second-Trump term would put women’s reproductive freedoms at risk. According to Harris, Trump, if elected for a second term, would sign a national abortion ban. 

Harris will make her reelection case in Nevada while joined by Arizona state Senator Eva Burch.  

Also on Monday, Amanda Zurawski of Texas and Kaitlyn Joshua of Louisiana will appear at a Wisconsin event for the Biden-Harris campaign. Both women will tell their personal stories of how their lives were impacted by restrictive abortion laws in their states after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.