Judge denies Planned Parenthood’s effort to block Nevada’s parental notification law

Clark County District Court Judge Erika Mendoza on Friday issued an order that denied Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s request that the injunction be imposed on a 1985 law that was recently revived.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte covers Nevada and part of California and provides wellness and preventative care services as well as abortions at health care centers in Reno and North Las Vegas.

The Nevada law, which would require doctors to notify parents of a minor seeking an abortion, had gone unenforced since it was enacted 40 years ago. The law requires parental notification unless the minor obtains a court order to receive an abortion without parental notification.

It was set to go into effect on April 30 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. However, a federal judge granted a request by Planned Parenthood to stop the law from going into effect until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolved a motion for a pending appeal that had been filed by Planned Parenthood, the Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported.

U.S. District Judge Anne Traum lifted that block in July after a federal appellate judge decided to not pause the law’s implementation, allowing the law go into effect immediately.

‘A law that we believe is unconstitutional’

Planned Parenthood, along with a doctor identified as “Dr. Doe,” then filed a lawsuit in District Court seeking the preliminary injunction that was denied Friday.

“This means that a law that we believe is unconstitutional, which hasn’t been enacted in 40 years, will now require minors to notify their parents before having an abortion,” said Lauren Babb, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. “It will significantly restrict access to sexual and reproductive health care for young people. We believe that young people are capable of making informed decisions about their reproductive health.”

Babb said Saturday that the organization will take some time before deciding on its next steps.

The law prohibits a physician from knowingly performing an abortion on an “unmarried or unemancipated woman who is under the age of 18” unless a parent or guardian is “personally notified” beforehand, according to the law.

If a parent or guardian can’t be notified after a “reasonable effort,” the physician must delay performing the abortion until the parent or guardian has been notified through certified mail at their known address, the law says.

Part of Planned Parenthood’s argument centered on the argument that the law is vague and could expose abortion providers to criminal liability. It also noted that the laws’s judicial bypass process could delay abortion access, forcing patients to carry unwanted pregnancies.

In her ruling, the judge concluded in part that plaintiffs “have not established a likelihood of success on several arguments due to preliminary question of standing and ripeness. Further, Plaintiffs have not established a likelihood of success on their substantive arguments.”

In a statement issued Saturday night, the Archdiocese of Las Vegas said it welcomed the court’s decision and that it affirmed “Catholic teaching that parents are entrusted by God to guide their children and safeguarding the dignity of family life and unborn children.”

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.