Nevada

Nevada Congress members sign onto federal IVF legislation

Published

2 years ago

February 27, 2024

Nevada Congress members sign onto federal IVF legislation

Nevada’s Democratic members of Congress joined federal legislation that would protect access to in vitro fertilization following last week’s Alabama Supreme Court decision that could impact access to the assisted reproductive technology.

Members of the House and Senate have joined onto the Access to Family Building Act that would establish a legal right to IVF and other assisted reproductive services, overriding any state effort to limit or ban access.

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen and Reps. Susie Lee, Dina Titus and Steven Horsford announced Tuesday that they had signed onto the bill, which was originally introduced in January by Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois in the Senate and Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania in the House. That bill was first brought forward in 2022, but Senate Republicans blocked the vote.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that couples who lost frozen embryos during an accident at a storage facility could sue the clinic and hospital for wrongful death. Three clinics have since announced they would pause their services as they sort out the ruling, which has sparked concern of wider impact and reinvigorated pro-abortion advocates.

“This cruel decision is already hurting some women’s ability to begin or continue fertility treatments,” Rosen said in a statement. “I’m backing legislation to protect access to IVF treatments and safeguard Americans’ right to start or grow their families.”

According to data from the National Library of Medicine, IVF accounts for 1.6 percent of all live births in the United States. Since 1978, more than 5 million children worldwide have been conceived via in vitro fertilization.

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade that guaranteed the federal right to an abortion, advocates warned that IVF and other reproductive-related procedures could be next.

“Women’s reproductive rights are being threatened nationwide, and we have to keep fighting back,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

For Lee, whose children were born using IVF, the need to protect fertility treatment is personal.

“Because of IVF, I was able to create a family, and without it, I would not have my two incredible children,” she said in a statement to the Review-Journal. “Alabama is the first step in the far-right’s plan to rob women of the opportunity to become a mother and yet another step in restricting women’s freedoms.”

In the 2022 midterms, abortion was a key issue for voters across the country, with Democrats winning key races in part due to their abortion messaging. As November 2024 elections draw nearer in which the Republican Party works to flip the Senate red, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent a memo to Senate candidates encouraging them to reject efforts to restrict IVF.

“There are zero Republican Senate candidates who support efforts to restrict access to fertility treatments,” the Feb. 23 memo from Executive Director Jason Thielman said.

GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown, who is a frontrunner in a crowded Republican primary field in Nevada, took to X — formerly known as Twitter — to highlight his support of the fertility treatment.

“Amy and I believe we should do more to promote loving families and help people experience the joys of parenthood,” he wrote. “IVF and other similar fertility treatments are a blessing for so many families seeking that joy, and we should ensure they remain accessible for them.”

Over the weekend, former president and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump also said that like the majority of Americans, he strongly supports the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a baby and called on the Alabama legislature to preserve its availability.

Senate Republicans — including many who supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade and argued abortion laws should be left up to the states — signaled Tuesday they would block the Access to Family Building Act, according to Politico.

Rep. Mark Amodei, Nevada’s sole Republican congressman, could not be reached for comment.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Nevada

Earthquake swarm rattles central Nevada near Tonopah along newly identified fault

Published

5 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Earthquake swarm rattles central Nevada near Tonopah along newly identified fault

A swarm of earthquakes has been rattling a remote stretch of central Nevada near Tonopah, including a magnitude 4.0 quake that hit near Warm Springs Tuesday morning.

Seismologists said the activity is typical for Nevada, where clusters of earthquakes can flare up in a concentrated area. “This is a very Nevada-style earthquake sequence. We have these a lot where we just see an uptick in activity in a certain spot,” said Christie Rowe, director of the Nevada Seismological Lab.

The latest magnitude 4.0 quake struck east of Tonopah near Warm Springs. The largest earthquake in the swarm so far has measured a 4.2.

What has stood out to researchers is the fault involved. Rowe said the earthquakes are occurring along a fault stretching along the southern edge of the Monitor and Antelope ranges — and that it was previously unknown to scientists. “We didn’t know this fault was there. It’s a new fault to us — not to the Earth, obviously — but it was previously unknown,” Rowe said.

For now, the earthquakes have remained moderate. Rowe said the lab would not deploy additional temporary sensors unless activity increases to around a magnitude 5 or greater.

Seismologists said they are continuing to watch the swarm closely as Nevada works to bring the ShakeAlert early warning system to the state. The program, already active in neighboring states, can send cellphone alerts seconds before shaking arrives. “For me, it’s a really high priority. That distance to the faults gives us enough time to warn people — and that can make a big difference in reducing injuries and damage,” Rowe said.

Seismologists encouraged anyone who feels shaking to report it through the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It” system, saying even small quakes can help scientists better understand Nevada’s seismic activity.

Experts said the swarm is worth monitoring but is not cause for alarm. They noted that earthquakes like the 5.8 that hit near Yerington in December 2024 typically happen in Nevada about every eight to 10 years, and said they will continue monitoring the current activity closely.

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Nevada

Kalshi Enforcement Action Belongs in Nevada Court, Judge Says

Published

17 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kalshi Enforcement Action Belongs in Nevada Court, Judge Says

Nevada state court is the proper venue for reviewing whether KalshiEX LLC is improperly accepting sports wagers without a license, a federal district court said.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board showed that the state statutes under which it seeks relief don’t require interpreting federal law, Judge Miranda M. Du of the US District Court for the District of Nevada said in a Monday order. The board’s action is now remanded to the First Judicial District Court in Carson City, Nev., the order said.

The board in 2025 urged Kalshi, a financial services company, to get a gaming license, but the …

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Nevada

EDITORIAL: Nevada still vulnerable as tourist downturn continues

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

EDITORIAL: Nevada still vulnerable as tourist downturn continues

Strip gaming executives can put their best spin on the numbers, but local tourism indicators remain a major concern. Casino operators seeking to draw more people through the door still have much work to do.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released January gaming numbers Friday. The news was underwhelming. The state gaming win was down 6.6 percent from a year earlier. The Strip took the largest hit, an 11 percent drop. But the gloomy returns were spread throughout Clark County: Downtown Las Vegas was off 5.2 percent, Laughlin suffered a 3.3 percent decline and the Boulder Strip dipped by 7 percent.

For the current fiscal year, gaming tax collections are up a paltry
2.1 percent, below budget projections.

The red flags include more than gaming numbers. Recently released figures for 2025 reveal that visitation to Las Vegas fell nearly 8 percent from 2024, which represented the lowest total since the pandemic in 2021. Traffic at Reid International Airport fell more than 10 percent in December and was down 6 percent for the year. Strip occupancy rates fell 3 percent in 2025.

To be fair, this is not just a Las Vegas problem. International travel to the United States was down
4.8 percent in January, Forbes reported, the ninth straight month of decline. Travel from Europe fell 5.2 percent, and passenger counts from Asia fell 7.5 percent. Canadian tourism cratered by 22 percent.

No doubt that President Donald Trump’s blustery rhetoric has played a role in the decline, but there’s more at work. International tourism has been largely flat since Barack Obama’s last few years in office. But domestic travel has held relatively steady although it is “starting to cool,” according to the U.S. Travel Association. Las Vegas hasn’t been helped by high-profile complaints last year about exorbitant Strip prices for parking, bottled water and other staples. Casino operators responded by offering discounts, particularly for locals, and they’ll need to continue those policies into 2026.

The tourism downturn has ramifications for the state budget, which relies primarily on sales and gaming tax revenues to support spending plans. “Nevada’s employment and economic challenges reflect deep structural factors that extend beyond cyclical economic fluctuations,” noted a recent report by economic analyst John Restrepo. “The state’s extreme concentration in tourism and gaming creates unique vulnerabilities.”

The irony is that state and local politicians have been talking for the past half century about “diversifying” the state economy. In recent years, that effort has primarily consisted of handing out millions in tax breaks and other incentives to attract businesses to the state. A dispassionate observer might ask whether that approach has brought an adequate return on investment.

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