Nevada judge blocks state from limiting Medicaid coverage for abortions

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge has struck down the state’s limits on Medicaid coverage for abortion services, saying the restrictions violate equal rights protections.

Clark County District Judge Erika Ballou said Tuesday from the bench that she planned to issue a written order at a later date directing the state Department of Health and Human Services to grant Medicaid coverage for all abortions.

Currently, Nevada’s Medicaid program only covers abortions for pregnancies that are life-threatening or result from rape or incest.

The judge’s order would expand abortion access in Nevada, amid ongoing legal and political fights across the country over reproductive health since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped away federal abortion protections.

Ballou, however, acknowledged that it’s likely her ruling will be appealed. A spokesperson for the Nevada attorney general’s office declined to comment on the ruling and whether the state plans to request a stay on the order amid an appeal.

The Nevada ruling also comes on the heels of a Pennsylvania high court decision in January that revived a yearslong legal battle challenging restrictions there on Medicaid coverage for abortions.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Minnesota court rules pharmacist discriminated against woman in denying emergency contraception </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Mississippi has the nation’s worst infant mortality. It will allow earlier Medicaid to