Minors seeking abortion in Nevada must get parental approval after 1985 law reinstated

This story has been updated with new information from the Nevada Attorney General's office and Nevada Right to Life.

Forty years after the Nevada Legislature required parental notification when minors seek abortions, the law is finally set to go into effect April 30.

Federal District Judge Anne Traum — an emerita professor of law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas — made the decision released Tuesday. It was based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning the federal right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade.

In 1985, the Nevada Legislature enacted a law referred to as Senate Bill 510 that never went into effect.

It “prohibits performing an abortion on a minor patient without first notifying the minor’s parent or guardian and provides that a minor may seek an order from a state district court authorizing an abortion without parental notification,” Traum wrote of the bill.

At the time, a preliminary injunction stopped it from going into effect. Based on Roe v. Wade, a court said there were serious questions about whether it violated a patient’s right to anonymity and that the state had failed to ensure adequate confidentiality.

In 1991, the federal court for the District of Nevada made the injunction permanent to keep Nevada’s parental notification law from ever going into effect.

With Roe overturned, the grounds for that injunction no longer exist, Traum said.

“It follows that the judgment in this (1991) case was based upon the law of Roe, which is now overruled," she wrote.

Traum quoted the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs that says, “States may regulate abortion for legitimate reasons, and when such regulations are challenged under the Constitution, courts cannot substitute their social and economic beliefs for the judgment of legislative bodies.”

By giving 30 days until the Nevada parental notification law goes into effect, the judge said she was allowing those opposed to her to decision time to file motions challenging the order if they wish to do so.

Traum was nominated for the bench by President Joe Biden and took the oath of office in 2022.

Nevada Right to Life group reacts to decision

"For 40 years, young girls have been exploited in secrecy, their suffering ignored while those in power turned a blind eye," said Melissa Clement, executive director of Nevada Right to Life, which provided financial support for the litigation to lift the injunction.

"Today, that silence is broken. Parents will finally be involved, and protection will replace the neglect that allowed predators to thrive."

Nevada Attorney General's office reviewing parental notification decision

The Nevada Attorney General's office told the Reno Gazette Journal that it's reviewing the decision.

"But, per our office's policy, we have no further comment due to pending litigation," a spokesperson said.

Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.