Description
Nevada NOW, and its affiliate, NOW of Southern Nevada work on a range of issues of special concern to women including:
Domestic Violence
Nevada ranks second, behind Alaska, for the number of deaths per capita in Domestic Violence situations.
Equal Pay
In Nevada, women earn only 76.8 cents for every dollar a man earns. Nevada NOW feels this is unacceptable. We believe that the legislature should pass laws requiring employers to pay their female employees the same wages as their male colleagues who do the same work. We also believe that work done in women dominated fields such as teaching, nursing and social work should be compensated at a higher rate.
Mandatory Waiting Periods / Mandatory Counseling
At this time, there are no laws that protect women in Nevada from mandatory counseling or waiting time for abortions. Mandatory waiting periods and mandatory counseling are often used as opportunities to give women missinformation about abortion
Parental Consent Laws
Parental consent laws do more harm than good.
Pharmacist Refusal
Presently, there is no law in Nevada that would require a pharmacist to fill an emergency contraception or birth control prescription. Pharmacist refusal is an increasing problem across the country, according to the National Women's Law Center. In Nevada, there are legislators who would like to allow pharmacists to refuse to fill valid prescriptions written by doctors.. Nevada NOW is opposed to mandatory counseling or waiting periods for abortion.
Sexual Assault
Nevada ranks fourth in the nation for the number of sexual assaults per capita.
Teen Pregnancy
According to the Guttmacher Institute, Nevada ranks first in the number of teen pregnancies per capita in the country. Nevada NOW feels that the legislature should require schools to teach a full range of sexual health topics, including condom use among other birth control and safe sex measures. There are many schools in Nevada that teach "abstinence only."
