Flint Mc

From a Kansan Transplant

Revisado: 02-17-23

I grew up in Denver and started High School in California. In the summers growing up I would often travel with my dad to Southwest Kansas to visit his sisters farm. I ended up finishing High School in that part of Kansas and have lived there ever since. I was always amazed how Kansans voted. It seems you could never find anyone who would admit to voting for one particular senator, but he always got reelected. The book helped me understand this phenomenon.

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Live Coverage: 2022 Primaries
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN AMERICA
Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment
Updated August 3, 20222:18 AM ET
DYLAN LYSEN
LAURA ZIEGLER
BLAISE MESA
FROM
KCUR 89.3

Kansas state Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an abortion rights supporter who was a Republican and is now a Democrat, reacts as a referendum to strip abortion rights out of the state constitution fails.
Danielle Kurtzleben/NPR
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Voters in Kansas rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment Tuesday that would have said there was no right to an abortion in the state, according to The Associated Press.


Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization.

President Joe Biden hailed Tuesday's vote and called on Congress to pass a law to restore nationwide abortion rights that were provided by Roe.

"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," Biden said in a statement.

Kansas For Constitutional Freedom, the main abortion rights group opposing the amendment, called the victory "huge and decisive."

"The people of Kansas have spoken," said Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for the group. "They think that abortion should be safe, legal and accessible in the state of Kansas."

This year, a record number of abortion questions will be on state ballots, and many are asking Kansas' decision Tuesday will be an indicator of what is to come.

In the lead-up to the vote, supporters of the amendment argued that it was necessary to correct what they say was the Kansas Supreme Court's overreach in striking down some of the state's previous abortion restrictions in 2019.

Opponents argued that the amendment would set state lawmakers up to pursue a total abortion ban.

An overwhelming victory
Struggling to speak after the race was called, 23-year-old Jae Moyer said the decisive victory in the red state was surprising.

"It's never looked like this in Kansas," Moyer said. "It's so amazing. I'm so proud of my state right now."

Planned Parenthood donated millions of dollars to the opposition effort.

"Anti-abortion politicians put this amendment on the primary ballot with the goal of low voter turnout," said Emily Wales of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, "but they discounted Kansans, who said loud and clear they believe and trust patients to make their own medical decisions."

Access to abortion in Kansas remains limited. The state has only four clinics where abortions remain available, all in the Wichita and Kansas City areas.

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