Backers Of Nevada 'Personhood' Amendment Seek Support For Ballot Initiative

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 29 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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An antiabortion ballot measure in Nevada could mobilize the state's Democratic voter base if it is placed on the 2010 ballot, some political experts say, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The Personhood Nevada Petition, filed last Wednesday, would alter the state constitution to define a person as "everyone possessing a human genome specific for an individual member of the human species, from the beginning of his or her biological development, without discrimination as to age, health, reproduction method, function, physical, or mental dependency, or cognitive ability." According to the petition's sponsor, conservative advocate Richard Ziser, the initiative would ban abortions including in cases of rape or incest, though it remains unclear how it would affect abortions performed to protect women's health. Ted Jelen, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said that the ultimate goal of the petition is to spur the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Roe v. Wade. He added that he doubts the measure will pass.

The petition must be signed by 97,000 residents before it can be placed on Nevada's 2010 ballot, a prospect some consider unlikely. However, if it is included, it might have the unintended effect of boosting Democratic turnout in the election. "The top of the Democratic ticket right now doesn't inspire a lot of enthusiasm," Erik Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Reno, said, adding, "If you throw in a red meat issue like abortion rights, it will activate the progressives and the second-tier voters in a way they weren't before. This is a gift to the Democratic Party."

Ziser, who was defeated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in Nevada's 2004 Senate election, said conservatives would be equally motivated to vote for the amendment, canceling out any boost in turnout Democrats might enjoy. He said that the petition is about principles and is "not a political decision." Even if the petition garners the 97,000 votes needed to appear on the ballot, it would need to gain approval from voters in 2010 and 2012 before it becomes part of the Nevada Constitution (McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun, 10/26).

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