Nevada Law and Abortion
Abortion is safe and legal in the State of Nevada. The procedure is governed by NRS 442.250. Any person in Nevada who is pregnant has the legal right to choose to have an abortion when performed by a licensed physician within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. An abortion may be performed after 24 weeks where the physician has reasonable cause to believe an abortion is necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person. You do not have to be a Nevada resident to receive abortion care in the state.
Expanding on NRS 442.250, in 2019, Governor Sisolak signed into law Senate Bill 179, the Trust Nevada Women Act, which decriminalized medication abortions and removed antiquated informed consent laws and other barriers to accessing reproductive health care. Governor Sisolak continues his commitment to ensuring Nevadans have access to safe and legal reproductive health care, including abortion, by expanding on the progress made in the Trust Nevada Women Act and challenging any attacks on existing law.
Report Misleading Abortion Service Providers
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (also known as CPCs) are organizations that seek to intercept women considering abortion. CPCs often advertise that they provide medical services, advice, and counseling in a clinical setting. However, CPCs do not provide comprehensive, accurate, or evidence-based clinical information. Instead, the primary goal of CPCs is to dissuade people seeking abortions from obtaining the procedure.
Often, this is accomplished through deceptive practices, such as employing unlicensed clinicians purporting to provide medical advice, ultrasounds, or free pregnancy tests. CPCs are often located near clinics that do provide safe and legal abortions. Employees appear in scrubs or other medical attire despite not being licensed providers. The advice provided at CPCs does not meet the American Medical Association’s standard of care for providing evidence-based information and treatment options.
The State of Nevada oversees regulatory violations, such as operating an unlicensed medical facility or clinic. If you or a loved one is concerned about misleading services you can file a complaint at this link, which can also be accessed by typing healthfacilitycomplaints.nv.gov into your web browser. Nevadans deserve safe and transparent medical care.
The State of Nevada is dedicated to ensuring people receive evidence-based medical care by clinicians and organizations with appropriate licensing. When you use the complaint form linked above, select “Other” for facility type and type in “crisis pregnancy center” to tell our staff the nature of your report. Please include the center’s address, if known. Reports may be made anonymously.
Types of Abortion
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are different types of abortions methods, which the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) places in categories as listed below.
- Medication abortion
- Surgical abortion, which includes:
- Suction aspiration abortion
- Dilation and evacuation abortions (D&E)
- Induction abortions
Medication Abortion
Also known as medical abortion or abortion with pills, medication abortion is a pregnancy termination protocol that typically involves taking two different drugs, Mifepristone and Misoprostol. Typically, an individual using medication abortion takes Mifepristone first, followed by misoprostol 24-48 hours later. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved medication abortion for use up to the first 70 days (10 weeks) of pregnancy, and its use has been rising for years. Guttmacher Institute estimates that medication is now used for more than half (54%) of all abortions. While medication abortion has been available in the U.S. for more than 20 years, studies have found that many adults and women of reproductive age have not heard of medication abortion. Many have confused emergency contraception (EC) pills with medication abortion pills, but EC does not terminate a pregnancy. EC works by delaying or inhibiting ovulation and will not affect an established pregnancy.
- Cost
- Average cost of a medical abortion is $535 but can be $1,600 or higher depending on the state or provider.
- Access
- Where – health care provider or by mail in some cases
- How – Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and misoprostol (Cytotec) via different administration routes and methotrexate (usually for extra-uterine)
- Time
According to the Mayo Clinic, medication abortion can be done using these medicines:
Oral mifepristone (Mifeprex) and oral misoprostol (Cytotec). This is the most common type of medical abortion. These medicines are usually taken within seven weeks of the first day of your last period.
Mifepristone (mif-uh-PRIS-tone) blocks the hormone progesterone, causing the lining of the uterus to thin and preventing the embryo from staying implanted and growing. Misoprostol (my-so-PROS-tol), a different kind of medicine, causes the uterus to contract and expel the embryo through the vagina.
You may take the mifepristone in your provider's office or clinic. Then you might take the misoprostol at home, hours or days later. You'll need to visit your health care provider again about a week later to make sure the abortion is complete. This regimen is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Oral mifepristone and vaginal, buccal or sublingual misoprostol. With this type of medical abortion, you take a mifepristone tablet by mouth. The next step is to use a slowly dissolving misoprostol tablet placed in your vagina (vaginal route), in your mouth between your teeth and cheek (buccal route), or under your tongue (sublingual route).
The vaginal, buccal or sublingual approach lessens side effects and may be more effective. To be most effective, these medicines must be taken within nine weeks of the first day of your last period.
Methotrexate and vaginal misoprostol. Methotrexate is rarely used for elective, unintended pregnancies, although it's still used for pregnancies outside of the uterus (ectopic pregnancies). This type of medical abortion must be done within seven weeks of the first day of your last period. It can take up to a month for methotrexate to complete the abortion. You receive methotrexate as a shot or a pill you take by mouth. The misoprostol is later used at home.
Vaginal misoprostol alone. Vaginal misoprostol alone can be effective when used before nine weeks of gestation of the embryo. But vaginal misoprostol alone is less effective than other types of medical abortion.
Surgical Abortion
Aspiration (suction aspiration), a minimally invasive and commonly used gynecological procedure, is the most common form of procedural abortion. It can be used to conduct abortions up to 14-16 weeks of gestation. Aspiration is also commonly used in cases of early pregnancy loss (miscarriage).
According to the University of California, San Francisco, suction aspiration abortion can be performed in a one-day procedure if less than 14 weeks have passed since the first day of your last menstrual period. The procedure is done in the doctor's office with local anesthesia and oral pain-relieving medications.
Dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures are used during the second trimester of pregnancy, and are typically performed over a two-day period but don't require an overnight stay in the hospital.
- Cost
- Aspiration – $650
- Dilation and evacuation – $500 to $3,000 or more
- Access
- Where and how – in-person supervision of a medical professional, aspiration MD office/clinic, D&E and Induction/Late, hospital
- Time
- Aspiration – up to 14-16 weeks
- Dilation and Evacuation – up to 20 weeks
Induction Abortion
Induction abortions are rare and conducted later in pregnancy. They involve the use of medications to induce labor and delivery of the fetus. Learn more from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
- Time
- Cost
- $8,000 to $15,000 or more
Find Verified Care and Support
AbortionFinder.org features a comprehensive directory of abortion service providers and assistance resources in the United States.