Abortion measures on Nevada and Arizona ballots could help tip the presidential race

Abortion access is a top issue this election at both the state and federal levels. Several states will have measures to protect reproductive rights on their ballots this November. In key battlegrounds, like Arizona and Nevada, these measures could have an impact on the presidential race. White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López spent time in both states and has this report.

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Geoff Bennett: Abortion access is a top issue this election season at both the state and federal levels. A number of states will have measures to protect reproductive rights on their ballots this November.

And in key battlegrounds like Arizona and Nevada, these measures could have an impact on the presidential race.

Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez,spent time in both states recently and filed this report.

Crystal Price, Arizona Voter: You know, I think he’s going to love these flowers, huh? They’re kind of fall colors.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Crystal Price comes to this cemetery in Mesa, Arizona almost once a month. It’s where her son Noble is buried.

Crystal Price: He’s Noble. He’s great, and he’s part of our family.

Laura Barron-Lopez: At Noble’s grave, she and her family leave flowers, write messages and take a moment of silence. Almost six years ago, Crystal had an abortion in her 22nd week of pregnancy, when complications threatened her life.

Crystal Price: I was coming in and out of consciousness, losing — I had lost so much blood, and it was a really scary — it was just really scary.

Laura Barron-Lopez: What was going through your mind when you heard the doctor say that you needed to terminate the pregnancy?

Crystal Price: It was just excruciatingly hard to know that I was choosing to end the life of my son, but also knowing that it was the right choice for me and for my circumstances, that my life was important, my family needed me, and I wanted to live.

I didn’t want to associate my experience with my child with the word abortion. But that’s what it was.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Arizona law only allows abortions for medical emergencies. After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, the state banned abortion after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

But this year, voters like Crystal will weigh in on Proposition 139, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution until fetal viability, generally considered to be around 24 weeks. Arizona is one of 10 states with measures protecting reproductive rights on the ballot this November.

How do you plan on voting on that ballot measure?

Crystal Price: I will be supporting and voting yes on Proposition 139. Just reading the language, I became very emotional and I was brought to tears as I considered the views that I have had in the past where I thought abortion was completely wrong, and then having had personal experiences and realizing it’s not so black and white.

Laura Barron-Lopez: In neighboring Nevada, abortion is currently allowed until 24 weeks under state law, but a yes-vote for the ballot measure, Proposition 6, would protect it in the state’s constitution.

Vice President Harris has made reproductive rights a key part of her campaign. And Democrats are hopeful that ballot measures protecting abortion access in Arizona and here in Nevada could boost turnout.

On the trail, Harris is drawing sharp contrasts between herself and Republican rival Donald Trump when it comes to abortion access.

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: This is the same guy who said that women should be punished for having abortions.

Laura Barron-Lopez: The former president has offered a more conflicted message, taking credit for appointing three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, but claiming that he’d veto a national 15-week abortion ban, then saying he’d allow states to restrict reproductive rights.

Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: You will be protected, and I will be your protector.

(Cheering)

Donald Trump: You will no longer be thinking about abortion.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Still, anti-abortion activists like Melissa Clement with Nevada Right to Life are confident that Donald Trump is the best conduit for their cause.

Melissa Clement, Nevada Right to Life: I don’t think we have time to worry about whether or not it’s a 15-week ban or anything like that. Even if he’s pro-choice, which he may or may not be, he’s not pro-abortion like Harris and Walz are. They’re completely pro-abortion. And that’s the only thing they care about.

And when the choice is so stark I have got to say that President Trump is the best choice for every pro-life voter, for every pro-choice voter, for every pro-woman voter.

Laura Barron-Lopez: For decades, Republicans have used abortion to motivate voters, helping lead to the fall of Roe.

Woman: People want to talk about protecting the right to abortion.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Now, as states take matters into their own hands, Clement sees ballot measures like Nevada’s as a — quote — “political move” by Democrats to juice turnout.

Melissa Clement: Given the fact that were up against tens of millions of dollars, and, quite honestly, a media that is that is biased towards abortion, we have a high mountain to climb.

Laura Barron-Lopez: The fate of these two abortion measures in the Southwest battlegrounds could be determined by Latino voters, who make up 25 percent of eligible voters in Arizona and 22 percent in Nevada, the majority of whom are Mexican-American.

Canvassers like Liliana Trejo Vanegas, who works with Reproductive Freedom for All, say engaging with people who come from the same background is helpful to make abortion care feel accessible. While canvassing in Las Vegas, Liliana often shares her own abortion story, as a 19-year-old who wasn’t ready to have a child.

Liliana Trejo Vanegas, Reproductive Freedom for All: They are able to humanize this often very taboo subject and see I now know one of the one in four people who has had an abortion. And, suddenly, it’s not so easy to vilify these folks for the decisions that they took.

Laura Barron-Lopez: For other Latinas, like Etelvina Zamora-Esquivel, a 60-year-old former casino worker who was born and raised in a Catholic household, supporting access to abortion is new.

Etelvina Zamora-Esquivel, Nevada Voter: It is probably the way that my mother always told us. You know, your body is your temple.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Then, about three months ago, Etelvina began attending conversations held by Make the Road Nevada and abortion rights groups meant to mobilize Latino voters. There, she heard women share their experiences with abortion.

How did you feel when you heard those stories?

Etelvina Zamora-Esquivel: To be honest, I started crying. If they are sick and the doctor tell them their life is at risk and they have to do it, that’s when my mind changed. And I says, now I’m going to vote yes.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Still, abortion ballot measures may not be enough to convince Latinos to stick with Democrats, according to local strategist Viridiana Vidal.

Viridiana Vidal, Democratic Media Strategist: I am not sure that that will translate into specific votes for Harris. Usually, Latinos, they go to the vote with their pockets and their hearts, which means that they want to hear solutions about economy, jobs, if they can afford rent, if they can afford food at the table.

And then they want to protect their — the health care of their loved ones. So abortion usually comes lower if you don’t explain how is this related to health care.

Crystal Price: He was able to get a name and a blessing right before he passed.

Laura Barron-Lopez: But back in Arizona, Crystal, who supported Donald Trump in 2020, is about to vote for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time.

Crystal Price: There are so many of us that are politically homeless, I guess, and there are just so many people who want to have dialogue and who want moderate policies.

I want to be clear that I don’t necessarily support all abortion. I feel like there are exceptions, though, that need to be available, especially for people like me who have unexpected complications in pregnancy.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Crystal’s own experiences are motivating her to back Harris. And the country’s post-Roe landscape could lead more voters like her to cross the aisle this November.

For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Laura Barron-Lopez in Arizona.