Kansas residents will vote Tuesday on whether to remove abortion rights from their state constitution, the first such ballot measure since the Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade lifted in June.
Voting “yes” would overturn the state constitution’s protections against abortion, leaving the door wide open for the Republican legislature to ban or limit the procedure.
If you choose “No”, the law remains unchanged.
Any bill would likely face a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who can overrule the Red-dominated legislature.
It is currently legal in Kansas to terminate a pregnancy up to 22 weeks, roughly within the viability window established by Roe in 1973.
Pro-life group Kansans for Life told DailyMail.com it was “optimistic” about Tuesday’s vote.
“For over a year we have carried our message person to person, door to door and church to church,” said the group’s communications director, Danielle Underwood. “All of this has been accomplished despite millions of dollars being expended by extrastate radical left organizations intent on misleading Kansas voters.”
According to a preliminary report by the Kansas Health Department, there were 7,849 abortions in the state last year.
The state’s four clinics have also become a haven for women from nearby states that have already restricted abortion following the Supreme Court ruling, like Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.
Three of these clinics are operated by Planned Parenthood.
Deacon John Stanley of the Catholic Church and Connie Stanley pray and wave to cars while holding signs along 135th Street in support of voting yes on a constitutional amendment to abortion August 1, 2022 in Olathe, Kansas
The Value Them Both Coalition is a faith-based anti-abortion group that pushed for Tuesday’s vote
Voting yes would give way to the Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature to pass an abortion ban
That means a majority of Kansans voting yes to the Value Them Both addendum could have a significant impact across the region.
The measure reads, “Because Kansans value both women and children, the Kansas State Constitution does not require state funding for abortion and does not create or secure an abortion right.”
“To the maximum extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected officials and state senators, may enact laws pertaining to abortion, including but not limited to laws addressing circumstances of pregnancy arising from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to end life to save the mother.’
Pro-choice activists believe the measure was included in the primary rather than the November general election to ensure limited turnout, according to CNN.
Data from past elections shows that more Republicans than Democrats are voting in the primary nationwide.
GOP voters also outpace Democrats in Kansas by more than 300,000.
The Sunflower State Supreme Court upheld the right in 2019, in a decision that said “the Bill of Rights of the Kansas Constitution protects a woman’s access to abortion.”
Voting no would keep the Sunflower State Constitution’s abortion protections intact
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the state constitution protects the right to an abortion
: A campaigner for the no vote on the abortion amendment to the Constitution receives his route from organizer Jae Gray at the Johnson County Democratic Office August 1, 2022 in Overland Park, Kansas
Voters will decide the measure on Tuesday when Kansas is one of five states to hold primary elections
Similar decisions have been made by the Alaska and Montana Supreme Courts, which maintain their protections against abortion despite having majority Republican legislatures.
“All human beings possess equal and inalienable natural rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” read the 7:1 decision by the Kansas Supreme Court.
“We are now asked: Is this Declaration of Rights more than an idealized claim? And if so, do substantive rights include a woman’s right to make decisions about her body, including the decision to continue her pregnancy? We answer these questions with “Yes.”
Kansans are voting Tuesday not for or against an abortion ban, but on whether their state legislatures should have the ability to enact one.
And Kansas Republicans are poised to act quickly if the amendment passes, a report in the Kansas Reflector suggests.
An official with the Value Them Both Coalition, which was pushing for the measure, reportedly said at a GOP meeting in Reno County that a bill is already prepared for unveiling if the amendment passes.
It comes after the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade lifted in June
The meeting took place in mid-July.
“It’s out there… but it hasn’t been voted on yet or anything,” the regional director reportedly said of the legislation.
“I’m responsible for getting the vote out, knocking on doors and on the phone and working on grassroots initiatives on this issue.”
The bill she listed, HB 2746, died in committee last May, according to the state legislature’s website.
The conservative supermajority of the US Supreme Court fundamentally reshaped the American reproductive health landscape in late June when it agreed to the Mississippi prosecutor’s motion to remove federal abortion protections.
It brought down Roe as well as its sister case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey and sparked nationwide protests among Democrats and women’s rights groups.
And the issue of abortion rights has already boosted voter turnout in Kansas, according to the latest data.
