In a referendum held in parallel to the primaries for the midterm elections in November, voters in the US state of Kansas rejected on Tuesday (2) the overturning of a section of the state Constitution that classifies abortion as a right.1973
In practice, the decision represents that abortion will remain legal in the state until the 22 weeks of pregnancy. Partial results indicate that, with 90% of votes counted, more than 60% of voters decided to reject the change in the text of the Constitution.
The rejected constitutional amendment proposed that “since the inhabitants of Kansans value both women and children”, the text of the Constitution would be amended to provide that “the Constitution of the State of Kansas does not require state funding for the abortion and does not create or guarantee the right to abortion.”
The amendment would include the following passage: “To the extent permitted by the United States Constitution, the people , through its elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws relating to abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that address circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.” .
It was the first abortion referendum held in the United States since the US Supreme Court’s June decision that overturned federal jurisprudence in Roe v. Wade of 1973, and allowed states to re-legislate on the issue as they see fit.
Pro-life groups lamented the referendum result. SBA Pro-Life America pointed out in a statement that the election process was marred by disinformation and that “the message from the pro-abortion lobby to voters was fraught with lies that ultimately smothered the truth.”
Mallory Carroll, a spokesperson for SBA Pro-Life America, said that “Kansas may soon become home to unrestricted abortion on demand – even unlimited late-term abortion paid for by taxpayers.”
“The people and their elected representatives now do not have the resources to use the tools of democracy to enact laws that reflect consensus,” added Carroll, who called for a pro-life mobilization in the midterm elections.
“It is critical that pro-life candidates take the lead in exposing the extremism of the Democrats’ political goals of abortion on a national level paid for by taxpayers,” he said. the spokesperson.
