Kansas voters on Tuesday sent a resounding message about their desire to protect abortion rights, rejecting a ballot measure in a conservative state with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature tighten the restrictions or ban the process altogether. It was the first test of voter sentiment since the US Supreme Court’s ruling in June overturned the constitutional right to abortion, providing an unexpected result with potential implications for the upcoming midterm elections. While it was just one state, the large turnout in the usually Republican-leaning August primary was a major victory for abortion rights advocates. With most of the votes counted, they won by about 20 percentage points, with turnout approaching what is typical for fall gubernatorial elections. The vote also offered a glimmer of hope to Democrats nationally grasping for a game changer during an election year that was otherwise filled with bleak omens for their prospects in November. “This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. After calling on Congress to “restore the protections of Roe” to federal law, Biden added: “And, the American people must continue to use their voices to protect women’s right to health care, including abortion.” The Kansas vote also provided a warning to Republicans who had celebrated the Supreme Court decision and were moving quickly with abortion bans or near-bans in nearly half the states. “Canes has boldly rejected the efforts of anti-abortion politicians to create a reproductive police state,” said Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity. “Today’s vote was a powerful rebuke and a promise of growing resistance.” The proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution would have added language stating that it does not grant the right to abortion. A 2019 state Supreme Court ruling declared access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state’s Bill of Rights, preventing a ban and potentially blocking legislative efforts to enact new restrictions. The referendum was closely watched as a barometer of anger among liberal and moderate voters over the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the nation’s right to abortion. In Kansas, abortion opponents would not say what legislation they would pursue if the amendment were to pass and was brought up when opponents predicted it would lead to a ban. Mallory Carroll, spokeswoman for the national anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, described the vote as “a huge disappointment” for the movement and called on anti-abortion candidates to “go on the offensive.” He added that following the US Supreme Court’s decision, “we must work exponentially harder to achieve and maintain protections for unborn children and their mothers.” The measure’s failure was also significant because of Kansas’ connections to anti-abortion activists. The 1991 Summer of Mercy anti-abortion protests inspired abortion opponents to take over the Kansas Republican Party and make the Legislature more conservative. It was there because Dr. George Tiller’s clinic was one of the few in the US known to perform late-pregnancy abortions, and he was murdered in 2009 by an anti-abortion extremist. Anti-abortion lawmakers wanted the vote to coincide with the state’s primary election in August, arguing they wanted to make sure it was focused, though others saw it as an obvious attempt to boost their chances of winning. Twice as many Republicans as Democrats have voted in the state’s August primary in the decade leading up to Tuesday’s election. “This result is a temporary setback and our dedicated fight to value women and babies is not over,” said Emily Massey, a spokeswoman for the amendment campaign. The electorate in Tuesday’s vote was not typical for a Kansas primary, particularly because tens of thousands of absentee voters cast ballots. Kristy Winter, 52, a Kansas City-area teacher and non-voter, voted against the measure and brought her 16-year-old daughter with her to her polling place. “I want her to have the same right to do what she deems necessary, especially in the case of rape or incest,” she said. “I want her to have the same rights that my mother had most of her life.” Opponents of the measure predicted that anti-abortion groups and lawmakers behind the measure would quickly push for an abortion ban if voters approved it. Before the vote, supporters of the measure declined to say whether they would seek a ban as they appealed to voters who supported both some restrictions and some access to abortion. Stephanie Kostreva, a 40-year-old school nurse from the Kansas City area and a Democrat, said she voted for the measure because she is a Christian and believes life begins at conception. “I don’t fully agree that abortion should never happen,” she said. “I know there are medical emergencies and when the mother’s life is in danger, there is no reason for two people to die.” An anonymous group sent a misleading message Monday to Kansas voters telling them to “vote yes” to protect the option, but it was suspended late Monday by the Twilio messaging platform it was using, a spokesman said. Twilio did not identify the sender. A 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling protecting abortion rights blocked a law that would have banned the more common second-trimester procedure, and another law imposing special health regulations on abortion providers is also pending. Opponents of abortion argued that all existing state restrictions were at risk, although some legal scholars found this argument questionable. Kansas does not prohibit most abortions until the 22nd week of pregnancy. The Kansas vote is the start of a long series of legal battles taking place where lawmakers are more conservative on abortion than governors or state courts. Kentucky will vote in November on whether to add language similar to Kansas’ proposed amendment to its state constitution. Meanwhile, Vermont will decide in November whether to add an abortion rights provision to its constitution. A similar question is likely to be asked on the November ballot in Michigan. In Kansas, both parties combined spent more than $14 million on their campaigns. Abortion providers and abortion rights groups were key donors to the no side, while Catholic dioceses heavily funded the yes campaign. The state has had strong anti-abortion majorities in its legislature for 30 years, but voters have regularly elected Democratic governors, including Laura Kelly in 2018. She opposed the proposed amendment, saying changing the state constitution would “throw the state back in the dark ages.” State Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican hoping to unseat Kelly, supported the proposed constitutional amendment. He told Catholic broadcaster EWTN before the election that “there is still room for progress” in reducing abortions, without specifying what he would sign as governor. Although abortion opponents pushed for new restrictions almost every year leading up to the 2019 Supreme Court decision, they felt constrained by previous court decisions and Democratic governors like Kelly. —— Stafford reported from Overland Park and Olathe
