Nevada voters will give Question 6 its required second decision on November 3, determining whether abortion protections should be added to the state constitution after the measure won 64% support in 2024. The vote is not about creating abortion access from scratch: Nevada already protects abortion by statute through 24 weeks of pregnancy and later when a physician determines the pregnant person’s life or health is at risk.
A “yes” vote would add a fundamental right to abortion to the Nevada Constitution. The proposed language would protect that right until fetal viability, which the treating health care practitioner would determine using the facts of the pregnancy. After viability, the amendment would protect an abortion when needed to preserve the pregnant person’s life or health. A “no” vote would leave the constitution unchanged while the existing statutory protection remains in force, according to the Question 6 ballot explanation.
The second vote is a procedural requirement, not a new version of the policy. Question 6 originated through an initiative petition, and Article 19 of the Nevada Constitution requires voters to approve a petition-based constitutional amendment at two consecutive general elections before it takes effect. The Secretary of State’s 2024 results record the first approval. If voters approve it again, the amendment becomes part of the constitution; a second rejection ends this proposal.
For voters, the central legal difference is the source and wording of the protection. Nevada Revised Statutes 442.250 currently permits abortion during the first 24 weeks and after that point when necessary to preserve life or health. Voters approved that statute in a 1990 referendum, so lawmakers cannot repeal or amend it without another statewide vote.
Question 6 would place a related but not identical protection in the state’s highest law. Its viability standard is clinical rather than a fixed week count, and the ballot explanation defines viability as a significant likelihood of sustained survival outside the uterus without extraordinary medical measures. The proposed amendment also says state or local interference before viability must serve a compelling state interest and use the least restrictive means, a test that would guide courts reviewing future restrictions.
The proposal’s appearance on the 2026 ballot follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision ending the federal constitutional abortion right. Nevada’s statutory rules did not disappear with that ruling, and neither outcome on Question 6 would by itself repeal them. The practical consequence of a second “yes” is an additional constitutional layer that future legislatures could not alter through ordinary legislation. A “no” would preserve the 1990 voter-approved law without adding the broader constitutional language.
The latest Nevada Current review confirms that the measure returning this year is the second approval stage and that its post-viability exception covers life or health. Voters assessing the measure should distinguish those verified provisions from campaign claims about policies the amendment does not contain. Question 6 addresses abortion rights; it does not set clinic funding, insurance coverage or provider licensing rules.
