A referendum on the Kansas Constitution, which could alter the document to assert that it does not guarantee the right to abortion, is set to occur during the August 2 primary elections in the state — a date that some contend was selected by Republicans on purpose, as left-leaning or moderate voters will be less likely to vote in the primaries.
Kansas will be the first state to vote on the issue of abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling last month, undoing 50 years of abortion rights protections. In their ruling, the far right justices of the High Court determined that the matter should be decided upon by the states, even though abortion is a globally recognized fundamental human right.
During Kansas’s primary elections next month, voters will decide whether or not they agree with a 2019 decision from the Kansas Supreme Court, which ruled that the state constitution recognized a person’s right to personal autonomy, including reproductive and abortion rights.
Republican lawmakers’ amendment proposal states that the document does not actually recognize such rights. A “yes” vote on the amendment means the person casting their ballot agrees with that assertion — and believes that the constitution should be changed — while a “no” vote means a person believes that abortion rights should still be included.
The timing of the election is important, however, as it could curtail participation in the vote on the provision.
Voters have until July 12 to register for the primary election, but since the races are partisan, unaffiliated voters — including moderates who may oppose a future outright ban on abortion — may feel less inclined to take part in the election due to it having no other questions or candidates for them to vote on. But unaffiliated voters are still allowed to participate by obtaining a ballot that solely addresses the referendum question.
Additionally, those who are most likely to take part in the primary election are Republicans; because the current state governor is a Democrat, the governor’s race is not likely to draw in Democratic voters.
Orion de Nevers, an attorney at Campaign Legal Center, took note of these issues in an op-ed for Slate on Tuesday, calling the maneuvering of the referendum question away from the general election to the primary election date a blatant attempt to ensure only certain voters take part.
“The Republican legislature timed the abortion vote knowing that Kansas’ 2022 primary would be heavy on contested Republican races and light on Democratic ones,” de Nevers wrote. “It also knew that nearly 30 percent of Kansas voters are registered as ‘unaffiliated,’ and that those more moderate voters are unaccustomed to participating in primary elections because they cannot vote partisan ballots. So by scheduling the vote on abortion rights for the August primary, the Kansas legislature stacked the deck in favor of Republican turnout.”
If Republicans “had truly wanted to put the state’s abortion policy in ‘the people’s’ hands,” de Nevers added, they “would have scheduled the vote for the general election on Nov. 8.”
Abortion rights proponents have decried the proposed amendment, saying that it would allow the state legislature to pass any and all restrictions on abortion in the state.
The amendment “will mandate government control over our private medical decisions and pave the way for a total ban on abortion — with no exception for rape, incest or to save the mother’s life,” Ashley All, spokesperson for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, said to PBS NewsHour.
According to a Kansas Speaks/Fort Hays State University poll published in February, 50.5 percent of residents don’t believe the state government should impose huge restrictions on people seeking abortion services, while just 25.4 percent say that state leaders should have the ability to do so. In another survey question, the poll asked whether pregnant people “are in a better position than politicians to make their own choices” on abortion. An overwhelming majority (62.5 percent) said they were, while just 14.2 percent disagreed.
Those numbers suggest that the Kansas Republicans’ attempts to amend the constitution may fail. But because the vote is taking place during a partisan primary election, rather than during the general election in November, it’s anyone’s guess what the outcome of the referendum question early next month will be.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy