- A state-wide vote on whether to remove the right to abortion from Kansas was held on Wednesday. More than 900,000 Kansans, or almost a third of the state’s population, cast ballots.
- 60% voted against the move, giving pro-choice supporters a landslide triumph. The failure of the anti-abortion movement in Kansas could cause other states considering similar referendums to reconsider their plans.
- The topic could attract left-leaning voters and have an impact on not only the state’s future abortion laws but also the political make-up of the legislature.
A state-wide vote on whether to remove the right to abortion from the state’s constitution was held on Wednesday, and more than 900,000 Kansans, or almost a third of the state’s whole population, cast ballots. Many polls conducted in the months before the election projected a close result. However, when it came down to it, roughly 60% voted against the move, giving pro-choice supporters a landslide triumph.
As more states have their own referendums on abortion rights and as countrywide elections in November approach, the outcomes will have an impact on the entire nation in the coming months.
The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade granted individual states the power to outlaw abortion. If any state should be able to pass abortion restrictions, it should be Kansas because it is a staunchly “red” state with a strong Republican base and Republican-controlled government.
However, because abortion rights are protected by the state constitution, pro-abortion lawmakers chose to bring the issue to a vote in an effort to advance more stringent legislation.
It appears that choice backfired. Although the state’s attempt to outlaw abortion may have failed, the fight goes on in other states around the nation.
Although the Kansas vote will undoubtedly have a substantial influence on women in the state, legal expert Naomi Cahn, Co-Director of the Family Law Center at the University of Virginia, claimed that its effects will extend well beyond its borders.
According to her, similar measures would likely be launched across the nation, either in an effort to protect the right or to restrict it and outlaw abortion, she told the BBC.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, 10 states—Arizona, Alaska, Montana, Minnesota, Kansas, New Mexico, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and Florida—have abortion rights codified in their state constitutions.
Despite their state constitutions, lawmakers in some of those states have stated they intend to outlaw abortions, and like Kansas, they might put the issue to a vote.
Abortion is already on the ballot in Montana for the midterm elections in November. In Kentucky, the state’s severe abortion restriction has been ping-ponged with by state courts despite the fact that the constitution does not guarantee the right to abortion. The question of whether to change the constitution to make it clear that abortion is not a right will be put to the vote in November.
In contrast, other states—most notably California and Vermont—are taking action to defend abortion rights by holding elections to add further abortion provisions to their state constitutions.
According to Kyle Kondik, a nonpartisan political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, the failure of the anti-abortion movement in Kansas could cause other states considering similar referendums to reconsider their plans, particularly if it could give pro-choice Democrats an advantage by inciting supporters of left-wing causes to cast ballots.
Republicans, in his opinion, “have a pretty evident vulnerability on this specific topic,” he said.
In Michigan, a so-called swing state where control frequently switches between the Democrats and the Republicans, such weakness might have significant repercussions.
Over 750,000 signatures were collected by pro-choice campaigners to put abortion rights on the November ballot. It’s possible that the topic will attract left-leaning voters and have an impact on not only the state’s future abortion laws but also the political make-up of the legislature and its congressional representatives.
According to Mr. Kondik, getting abortion rights on the ballot could become a strategy for Democrats to try and boost their voter turnout, but it’s not certain to be a success come November.
It’s crucial to keep in mind that Democratic Party principles are frequently more well-liked than Democratic Party candidates, he added.
People may go to the polls to support abortion rights, but it does not guarantee they will vote for candidates who support the freedom to choose. For instance, Mr. Kondik noted that while many voters continued to support conservative candidates for office, 37 states voted in favour of extending Medicaid in 2018, a left-leaning subject.
If lawmakers want to outlaw abortion but don’t want to risk political fallout, they might let the courts decide the matter. In Florida, where a prohibition on most abortions after 15 weeks has been contested and is its route to the state’s Supreme Court, that is what Governor Ron DeSantis has so far done.
In order to avoid linking their campaigns to a possibly unpopular notion, they might also postpone putting anti-abortion legislation on the agenda until after November.
No matter if states include abortion on the ballot or not, it is obvious that voters will think about it this fall. According to a June NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey, 40% of Americans supported the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade while 56% disapproved of it. In the same survey, 51% of respondents said they would be likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supported restoring abortion rights, while 36% said they would purposefully vote against such a politician.
Voters: Will they agree with the Supreme Court’s decision that abortion is not a fundamental right? Time will tell, but the court of public opinion may be unpredictable, as the Kansas results show.
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