EDITORIAL: Nevada parental consent law survives another challenge

Minors can’t even receive dental care in Nevada without consent from a parent or guardian, but some progressives demand they be allowed to have abortions whenever they please.

In 1985, Nevada lawmakers passed legislation requiring medical providers to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a girl under 18 years of age. The bill received widespread support and was generally popular with voters. But the statute was never enforced because the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled it violated Roe v. Wade.

Fast forward four decades, and the U.S. Supreme Court has returned the issue to the states with a 2022 ruling. Nevada’s law remains on the books. A group of Silver State district attorneys last year sought to enforce it. Planned Parenthood responded by getting a federal judge to issue an injunction until the issue could be litigated.

But a federal appeals court later lifted that injunction and a second federal judge in March refused to reinstate it. That prompted the abortion rights group to try again in state court. On Friday, Clark County District Judge Erika Mendoza refused to grant Planned Parenthood’s request. Judge Mendoza noted that plaintiffs “have not established a likelihood of success on their substantive arguments.”

The ruling is sound. The issue here isn’t abortion, just as laws that demand parents approve dental procedures on their minor children aren’t about dentistry. The issue, rather, concerns parents and guardians having the legal autonomy to make decisions regarding their children.

Planned Parenthood argues the abortion law is vague and violates due process and equal protection rights of minors. Does requiring parental consent for other types of medical care do the same? Do age restrictions for alcohol and cigarette use also violate the Constitution? Nonsense.

It’s worth noting that Nevada’s law is neither an outlier nor overly strict. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 38 states require some form of parental involvement in a minor’s decision to seek an abortion. Of those states, 28 demand consent from a parent or guardian and 10 simply require notification. Nevada falls into the latter category.

In addition, most of these states, including Nevada, provide for a judicial means of bypassing parental consent demands along with exceptions for medical emergencies.

The right to abortion in enshrined in Nevada statutes, and voters in 2024 took the first step necessary to enshrine it in the state constitution. But that doesn’t preclude commonsense regulation intended to ensure parental rights aren’t ignored. If Planned Parenthood disagrees with the 1985 law, the group is free to convince enough state lawmakers to go on the record opposing parental consent.