In the first major abortion vote that has taken place in the United States since the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the right to abortion at the federal level, voters in the state of Kansas, which is located in the middle of the country, decided on August 2 to maintain the constitutional abortion guarantee.
A constitutional proposal that would have deleted language from the state Constitution safeguarding the right to abortion and may have paved the way for tougher regulation or a ban on abortion was defeated by voters in this conservative state.
The Right To Choose
This election was considered a political test at the national level due to the fact that a large number of conservative states have already banned or want to rapidly ban any right to abortion. As soon as the result was known, proponents of abortion rights began to celebrate the victory their side had earned in the highly contentious discussion that is currently taking place in the United States. According to Ashley All, a spokesman for the pro-abortion rights movement, this is an ” amazing ” result. She stated that the citizens of Kansas were aware that this amendment would allow the government to exert control over personal medical decisions. ” Today, Kansans stood up for basic rights,” the Democratic governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, tweeted.
The Kansas election supervisor, Scott Schwab, announced shortly after the polls closed that the turnout was at least fifty percent, a percentage that is in line with what was anticipated for this type of election. According to Marsha Barrett, an electoral agent, by midday, approximately 250 voters had cast their ballots at the Olathe polling station, which is located in the suburbs of Kansas City. This is the same number of voters who cast their ballots at this time during a presidential election.
When Morgan Spoor was 19 years old, he cast his first vote and immediately decided that he wanted to advocate for “the freedom to choose.” Because I am a woman, one of my primary goals is to have my opinion taken seriously. She stated that she did not believe anyone had the right to tell a woman what she could or could not do with her body. Chris Ehly, a resident of Prairie Village, was also heard speaking out against the amendment of the Constitution in order to “respect” his wife and daughter, telling AFP that he was “categorical on the matter.” On the other hand, Sylvia Brantley, who is 60 years old and has three children, voted “yes” to the proposal because she believes that “babies matter too.” “. She stated that she wants there to be more laws in place so that Kansas does not become a place “where newborn infants are put to death.
Complicated Political Reality
In spite of the fact that abortion rights supporters scored a decisive victory in Kansas, they are keeping a wary eye on Kansas’s neighbors, Missouri and Oklahoma, both of which have passed laws that prohibit nearly all abortions. In the state of Missouri, there are no exceptions made for rape or incest. Other states, including California and Kentucky, are scheduled to vote on the subject in November, which will coincide with the midterm congressional elections in which both Republicans and Democrats seek to rally their followers around the topic of abortion.
As a consequence of the vote in Kansas, abortion will continue to be permissible up until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Minors are obliged to have permission from their parents. The poll, which took place at the same time as the primaries in Kansas, was the first opportunity for American voters to voice their opinions on abortion since the Supreme Court reversed its landmark decision from 1973, Roe v. Wade. The vote coincided with the Kansas primaries.
In general, conservatives tend to favor the enforcement of at least some limits on abortion rights, while Democrats are ardent proponents of abortion access. On the other hand, the political landscape of Kansas is marked by a greater degree of complexity. The state has not sent a Democrat to the White House since 1964, which is when it first started leaning decisively in favor of the Republican party. In spite of this, Sharice Davids, a Democrat, was chosen to represent Kansas in the House of Representatives by the county with the highest population in the state in 2018, and Laura Kelly, also a Democrat, is the governor of the state.
