When Kansas voters head to the polls on Tuesday, they will be asked to decide whether the state’s Constitution should continue to protect abortion rights.
It will be the first time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that U.S. voters cast ballots on abortion.
A proposed amendment to the state Constitution on the ballot Aug. 2, when Kansans will also select nominees in various primary elections, removes language that guarantees reproductive rights, and asks voters if they prefer to put the issue of abortion in the hands of the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature.
“The amendment doesn’t ban abortion, but rather, allows the Legislature to ban abortion if it wanted to,” said Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University, in Topeka, and expert on Kansas politics.
The ballot question has been planned for more than a year, but it’s taken on greater significance in the weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the nationwide constitutional right to abortion on June 24.
Anti-abortion activists argue the Kansas ballot question merely creates an opportunity to put the issue in the hands of the voters, via their duly elected state lawmakers.
Abortion-rights advocates warn that approval of the ballot measure would almost certainly result in the elimination or curtailment of existing rights in a state that has more lenient laws on its books compared to many of its neighbors.
“With federal abortion rights overturned, Kansas lawmakers are saying, ‘We need to change our state Constitution so it no longer protects abortion rights, so that we can go ahead and ban or restrict abortion now that we’re legally allowed to,’” said Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that works to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights. “If the Kansas Constitution no longer is deemed to explicitly protect abortion rights, an abortion ban would sail through the Legislature.”
Groups on both sides of the issue have blanketed Kansas airwaves with millions of dollars in ads, and a recent survey indicated a close vote on the ballot measure. The Kansas City-based firm co/efficient found that 47% of respondents said they planned to vote “yes” on the question, while 43% said they planned to vote “no.” Ten percent were undecided.
Ballot measure language
A 2019 ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court said the state’s Constitution guaranteed the right to have an abortion, in an opinion that also struck down a slate of proposed abortion restrictions. Almost immediately, Republicans and anti-abortion activists set out to secure a ballot initiative that could overturn that decision. Last year, Republicans in both legislative chambers used their supermajorities — overcoming opposition from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly — to get the initiative on the upcoming ballot.
The ballot measure consists of language that abortion-rights proponents argue is intentionally designed to confuse voters — from the inclusion of an “explanatory statement” to calling it the “Value Them Both Amendment.”
A “yes” vote would affirm that “the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion” — even though no such requirement exists — “and does not create or secure a right to abortion.” It also would affirm that “the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion,” something lawmakers are limited in doing now based on the 2019 court ruling.
It then says that a “yes” vote affirms the previous statements while a “no” vote would make no changes to the status quo.
Abortion rights advocates support a “no” vote on the measure.
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