Carson City, Nevada – Nevada will pay $100,000 to Patience Rousseau, a woman who was convicted under a unique state law criminalizing actions taken to complete a pregnancy after 24 weeks, a settlement approved last Tuesday by the state Board of Examiners. The case has drawn national attention to the law, which advocates say is the only one in the country that explicitly criminalizes abortion in this manner.
Rousseau, who went by Patience Frazier in 2018, was initially charged with felony manslaughter after delivering a stillborn baby in Winnemucca, Nevada. She had sought to terminate her pregnancy but faced obstacles, including a broken-down car that prevented her from reaching an abortion clinic more than two hours away in Reno. Unable to access medical care, Rousseau turned to internet searches for methods to induce a miscarriage, consuming large amounts of cinnamon and engaging in heavy lifting.
Prosecutors argued that Rousseau’s consumption of methamphetamine and marijuana during her pregnancy constituted an attempt to induce an abortion, violating the 1911 Nevada law. Despite the fact that prosecutors could not prove her actions caused the miscarriage, Rousseau pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2019 at the urging of her public defender. She served more than two years in prison before her conviction was vacated in 2021 due to ineffective assistance of counsel.
The 1911 law, predating Roe v. Wade, makes it a felony to ingest substances with the intent to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks. “Even in the states with the most draconian abortion bans, there is language explicitly saying that a person who has an abortion has not committed a crime,” said Farah Diaz-Tello, a lawyer and abortion rights advocate. “Not Nevada.”
Laura FitzSimmons, a Carson City-based attorney who represented Rousseau beginning in 2020, successfully argued that the prosecution could not demonstrate a causal link between Rousseau’s actions and the miscarriage, nor could they prove intent to induce an abortion. FitzSimmons also pointed out that Rousseau was unsure of her gestational age when she began taking substances, making it difficult to establish she knew she was past the 24-week threshold.
The settlement concludes an eight-year legal battle that significantly impacted Rousseau’s life. She told The Nevada Independent she was grateful for the financial compensation but continues to struggle with trauma and community stigma. Rousseau now lives in South Dakota with her three sons and holds a stable job, but faces ongoing financial challenges.
Despite the settlement, the underlying law remains in effect. A bill, SB139, introduced in the 2023 legislative session to repeal the statute, failed to receive a hearing. Senator Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas), the bill’s sponsor, stated she supported the change “because I believe Nevada’s legal system shouldn’t punish women for their medical situations or pregnancy outcomes,” but acknowledged the complexities of legislative processes.
Nevada voters approved Question 6 in November 2024, a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights up to 24 weeks in the state constitution. However, the measure must be approved again in a statewide vote this November to become law. The state remains the only one in the nation with a law explicitly criminalizing actions taken to end a pregnancy after 24 weeks, a point reproductive rights advocates continue to challenge.