Although abortion rights have faded in importance for voters as economic concerns mount, Nevada and national Democrats are hoping to put the issue back in the spotlight as the 2026 election approaches. 

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Democrats capitalized on a wave of support for abortion rights. In Nevada, where abortion is legal through 24 weeks gestation, midterm exit polls showed that almost 30 percent of Nevada voters considered abortion their top issue, second only to inflation. 

In 2024, abortion rights champions cautioned that Republicans would limit access even further. But as Nevada voters helped send President Donald Trump back to the White House, only 11 percent of them considered abortion their top issue and were instead more focused on democracy, the economy and immigration. 

Despite that decline, abortion rights advocates are hoping the issue can once again resonate with voters. 

“Democrats definitely wanted to make that a referendum issue,” David Damore, a political science professor at UNLV, told The Nevada Independent. “But voters were thinking about the economy.” Looking ahead, he added, “They will certainly use the issue as best they can. I’m just not sure it’s going to resonate again with those economic issues looming.”

In the state’s most-watched race, the fight for the governor’s mansion, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) says reproductive rights will be “at the forefront” of his 2026 campaign. 

“As governor, I’m going to ensure that Nevada itself remains a firewall, not just in name, but in practice,” Ford told The Indy. “So that means protecting abortion access, safeguarding IVF, keeping politicians out of private medical decisions.”

Ford still faces a primary, but has the backing of the state’s entire congressional delegation, the regional Planned Parenthood advocacy arm and the national nonprofit Reproductive Freedom for All. 

If he wins the nomination, he will take on Gov. Joe Lombardo (R). Lombardo has positioned himself as a moderate when it comes to abortion, saying that even if he would personally support a 15-week cutoff, abortion rights are codified in state law and should be left up to Nevada voters. 

“While Democrats want to relitigate an issue Nevadans settled long ago, Governor Lombardo continues to focus on expanding healthcare, lowering the cost of living, and building a strong Nevada for the next generation,” Lombardo campaign spokeswoman Halee Dobbins said in an email.

In 2023, he signed a measure to protect out-of-state-abortion seekers in Nevada. When he vetoed a bill this year that aimed to make in vitro fertilization more accessible, he stressed in his veto message he was doing so only because of financial concerns. 

“Lombardo hasn’t been particularly assertive on the issue, knowing that there’s nothing he can do in the legislative process, and they can read the polling just as well as anybody else,” Damore said. “He’s stepped very, very cautiously around the issue.”

New relevance

Still, there’s one particularly big reason why abortion and reproductive rights could be especially relevant next year. 

“They certainly should be in Nevada because there is a ballot measure to put current Nevada law allowing abortions into the state’s Constitution,” Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) said in a statement to The Indy.

Question 6, which passed with 64 percent of the vote last year, is on the ballot again. The amendment would not affect abortion access, but supporters say it could protect it from future attack. Voters approved the measure in 2024 and must do so again to actually enact it. 

Another new complication is a 1985 law requiring minors to notify their parents or guardians before getting an abortion, which went into effect for the first time ever this July following an extended legal fight.  

“I think minors should be able to receive whatever care and treatment that they need, and they should be able to do that in consultation with their family members and/or their doctors,” Ford said when asked if he would seek to overturn the parental consent law. “We’re going to look to see the best place to protect that. If the Legislature takes up the issue from an overturning perspective, it’s something that I will entertain as well.” 

An even older Nevada law has also been back in the news. A bill to repeal 1911 legislation criminalizing taking substances to end a pregnancy after 24 weeks saw no movement in the state Senate this year after state Democratic leadership decided not to prioritize it, according to reporting from The New Republic. Asked about overturning the law, Ford said he was not familiar with the debate. 

Titus was more direct. 

“I believe Nevada’s 1985 parental notification legislation should be reversed,” she said. “Parental notification can become parental permission, and no young woman should be forced to accept an unwanted pregnancy. Likewise, the 1911 Nevada law that can put women in prison for terminating a pregnancy after 24 weeks is a cruel law that should be repealed.”

The messaging wars 

In 2024, Trump managed to brush off Democrats’ warnings that he would roll back abortion rights even further. So far, the president has not fulfilled the most extreme predictions, such as using the Comstock Act to ban the mailing of abortion pills, but has undermined abortion access in other ways. His opponents are trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again. 

“It’s all the more important that states like Nevada have reproductive freedom champions up and down the ticket to defend themselves against the Trump administration,” Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All, told The Indy. 

Timmaraju said that voters can now see the differences between what Trump pledged and what the administration is actually doing. She pointed to the president’s decision to rescind Biden-era guidance on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which clarified that patients should be able to receive emergency abortion care even in states with tight restrictions.

Across the country, Democrats are working to blame Republicans for higher health care costs and decreased access to services, a line of attack that includes reproductive care.

Asked about the role of abortion in 2026 following a press conference on cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) immediately replied, “Republicans are defunding that, too.”

Other states could pose a threat, too. A new Texas law allows anyone to sue a person who helps people access abortion pills in the Lone Star State, which could target Nevada manufacturers and distributors. 

“This is definitely a concerted effort by anti-abortion extremists across the country to coordinate and try to pass laws that would reach into states like Nevada,” Timmaraju said. 

In Nevada, the anti-abortion opposition is working to paint itself as the commonsense option. 

Nevada Right to Life is focused on defeating Question 6 this election cycle, communications director Krystal Minera-Alvis told The Nevada Independent. The group is targeting voters through traditional campaign methods, such as door knocking, phone calls and church outreach. 

Melissa Clement, the organization’s president, told The Indy that social media and digital advertising would be part of the effort as well. She said Question 6 was approved last year because her side was so drastically outspent. 

“We will definitely be spending more,” Clement said, though she did not specify how much. 

Clement also praised Lombardo for his thoughtful approach, though she noted she wasn’t happy when he signed the measure protecting out-of-state abortion seekers. Democrats, meanwhile, have worked to highlight Lombardo’s connections to Right to Life. 

One of Nevada’s fastest-growing constituencies, Latino voters, exemplify the challenges both sides face. Clarissa Martínez de Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at the national civil rights organization UnidosUs, told The Indy living expenses come first.

“I think right now we see the economy certainly at the top of the concerns and issues related to the pocketbook,” Martinez said. “That doesn’t mean that abortion doesn’t matter, or that views have changed, it just means that in terms of priorities or drivers, it may not be the most potent.”

Reporter Isabella Aldrete contributed to this story.