GOP candidates target abortion rights

Across the country and in Nevada, the Republican Party is in disarray, with members battling on another over how much to hide the ball on their dangerous, anti-choice agenda. While some hope to keep their plan for a national abortion ban under wraps, other politicians, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are proudly pushing for one.

Despite this disagreement on the talking points, the core of their plan remains the same: The Republican Party is pushing for bans on abortion at all levels of government, and that includes in Congress and at the state level. Although we have strong voter-protected access to abortion in Nevada, we know Republicans running for office right now in the state, like Adam Laxalt and Joe Lombardo, are promoting policies that will severely limit, if not ban access to abortion services here.

More than 30 years ago, Nevadans spoke loudly and clearly in support of reproductive freedom when they affirmed our state statute on abortion. This vote essentially put a barbed-wire fence around our state abortion law, requiring any change made by the Legislature to be approved by voters. Support for the right to abortion remains high in Nevada, with NARAL polling showing more than 8 in 10 Nevadans support folks making choices that are right for them, free from political interference.

Make no mistake, Graham’s nationwide ban threatens our voter-approved right to abortion. Even with a state vote affirming abortion rights, a national ban would override that. And we can’t count on Nevada Republicans to protect our freedoms either — despite vague and misleading statements to the contrary, GOP candidates in our state have a well-established history of being staunchly anti-choice.

Laxalt, the Republican candidate running for U.S. Senate against Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, is an early pioneer in hiding his views on reproductive freedom in order to confuse and deceive voters. Infamously, while running for governor in 2018, Laxalt said he would “look into” repealing our voter-protected abortion access. Then, Laxalt’s campaign attempted to walk back these comments, claiming his remarks were taken out of context. A news station then released the full interview to prove his statements were presented in context and that the campaign was spreading falsehoods.

Recently, Laxalt has asserted that he respects our voter-protected abortion access while at the same time saying he would support a ban on abortion after 13 weeks of pregnancy. Not only that, he has accepted and touted the endorsement of National Right to Life, an extremist organization that supports banning abortion entirely, without exception for the pregnant person’s circumstances.

Joe Lombardo, the Republican candidate running for governor against Gov. Steve Sisolak, is using the same playbook as Laxalt by speaking out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to abortion rights. Lombardo says he would respect Nevadans’ voter-protected abortion access.

But, like Laxalt, Lombardo accepted the National Right to Life endorsement and committed to supporting a 13-week abortion ban.

Lombardo also said he would repeal Sisolak’s executive order protecting abortion seekers in Nevada. In May, Lombardo said he plans to lead as a governor hostile to abortion and would consider forced “waiting periods” for accessing contraception. His campaign has repeatedly tried to walk these statements back, even going so far as to fake a citation from a news outlet.

Worst of all, Lombardo has funded and directed taxpayer resources to fake health centers — sometimes called “crisis pregnancy centers” — that attempt to lie, threaten and intimidate folks from seeking abortion care.

What’s clear is that Laxalt and Lombardo are two peas in the same pod — backed by national anti-choice organizations and lawmakers, they’re both shamelessly lying when it comes to abortion rights. Nevadans won’t be fooled by their deceit, and NARAL Pro-choice Nevada will be working tirelessly to make sure voters know exactly which candidates are committed to protecting their reproductive freedom. In fact, the president of NARAL Pro-choice America, Mini Timmaraju, is in town and on the ground this weekend helping to get out the word that when it comes to protecting reproductive freedom, Nevadans will have to look further than Laxalt and Lombardo.