Nevada is set to become the 18th state to allow low-income pregnant women to use Medicaid funds to pay for abortions.
The state lost an appeal of a judge's ruling earlier this year that found denying insurance coverage for abortions violates Nevada's equal rights protections adopted by voters in 2022.
It is unclear when compensation will begin, but the judge who handed down the ruling said it should begin no later than early November.
“Nevadans who have Medicaid as their health insurance should no longer have to fear that they will be forced to continue a pregnancy against their will,” said Rebecca Chang, an attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, which filed the lawsuit.
The issue of abortion has become a key voter issue across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court is set to strike down Roe v. Wade, which has guaranteed women federal access to abortion for half a century, in 2022.
Most Republican-controlled states have bans or restrictions in place, including 14 that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy with some exceptions, and four that generally ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
In contrast, most Democratic-leaning states have moved to protect and expand access to abortion. Nevada, whose legislature is under Democratic control, is one of the states that protects access to abortion.
Just last week, a judge struck down North Dakota's anti-abortion law, and Arizona repealed a long-standing 1864 law that criminalized all abortions except when the woman's life is at risk.
Silver State voters will consider enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution in November, and if the referendum passes, it would be put on the ballot for a second time in 2026.
But even in states where abortion is more readily available to women, a major issue remains whether abortions are covered by Medicaid for patients who are enrolled in joint state-federal programs for low-income people.
A 1977 law prohibits federal funds from paying for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or when an abortion is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. States are allowed to use federal funds to pay for abortions in certain circumstances.
The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, said most states follow or follow federal law with regard to state funding but with some additional exceptions.
Seventeen states allow abortion without restriction: nine allow court-ordered abortion and eight allow voluntary abortion.
About a third of American women ages 15 to 49 live in states where abortion is available and Medicaid covers it, but only in limited cases, according to the health care nonprofit KFF.
About one in five women in these states has Medicaid insurance.
Medicaid recipients are disproportionately low-income, Native American, and black.
With post wire
