Voters in Kansas, in the US Midwest, voted Tuesday to uphold the constitutional guarantee of abortion, in the first major vote on abortion since the US Supreme Court struck down the federal abortion law. abortion.
Voters in this conservative state rejected an amendment that would have removed language guaranteeing abortion rights in the state Constitution and could have paved the way for stricter regulation or a ban.
This election was seen as a national political test, many conservative states had already banned or intended to quickly ban any abortion rights.
“The people of Kansas stood up for basic rights”
As soon as the result was announced, abortion rights advocates celebrated their side’s victory in the highly controversial debate taking place in the United States. This is a “remarkable” result, said Ashley All, a spokeswoman for the Campaign for Abortion Rights. “The people of Kansas understood that this amendment would impose government control over private medical decisions,” she said.
“Kansasians stood up for basic rights today,” Democratic Kansas Governor Laura Kelly tweeted.
significant mobilization
Moments after the polls closed, Kansas Supervisor of Elections Scott Schwab said the turnout was at least 50%, a figure in line with expectations for this type of poll.
By noon, nearly 250 voters had passed through the Olathe polling station in suburban Kansas City, the same number at this time as during a presidential election, according to election official Marsha Barrett.
“This election is crazy,” he said. “People are determined to vote.”
Questions in other states
Although abortion advocates won a clear victory in Kansas, they are eyeing with concern the neighboring states of Missouri and Oklahoma, which have imposed near-total bans. Missouri does not allow exceptions for rape or incest.
Other states, including California and Kentucky, will vote on the issue in November, coinciding with midterm elections in which Republicans and Democrats hope to rally their supporters around abortion.
The result in Kansas means that abortion will remain legal until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Parental authorization is required for minors.
a conservative state
The vote, which coincided with the Kansas primary, represented the first opportunity for American voters to express their views on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned its landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade.
Democrats strongly support abortion rights, while conservatives generally support at least some restrictions.
But in Kansas, the political reality is more complicated. The state leans heavily Republican and hasn’t voted for a Democrat in the White House since 1964. But Kansas’s most populous county elected a Democrat, Sharice Davids, to the House of Representatives in 2018, and the state’s governor Laura Kelly is a Democrat
According to a 2021 poll, less than 20% of Kansas respondents agreed that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape or incest.
Source: BFM TV
