What Kansans’ ‘No’ Vote to Abortion Access Amendment Means for That State

“It’s a temporary setback, and our dedicated fight to value women and babies is far from over,” activists from Value Them Both tweeted following the Aug. 2 vote from Kansans to continue access to abortions across the state. Kansas will continue without the restrictions proposed in the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment.

Charisma News has followed the grassroots movement across the state and the fight from pro-life organizations to hand the power back to the citizens to decide what the future of abortion rights look like in Kansas.

Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion access since the historic overturning of Roe v Wade. The Associated Press called the race during the Aug. 2 primaries at 9:40 p.m., revealing that, at that time, the “no” vote led by 59%.

Kansans came to the polls and voted a majority “no” against approving the amendment, which means the state could become a travel destination for women across the country looking to get abortions.

The amendment itself did not ban or restrict abortions, nor affect a physician’s ability to provide care for women who have ectopic pregnancies, but it would require abortion clinics to actually meet safety standards.

This was a surprise to many from the conservative state, and representatives from the Value the Both cause tweeted, “over the last six months, Kansans endured an onslaught of misinformation from radical left organizations that spent millions of out-of-state dollars to spread lies about the Value Them Both Amendment.”

Representatives are frustrated at the narrative played by the mainstream media and the “false narrative” that they believe led to confusion. “As our state becomes an abortion destination, it will be even more important for Kansans to support our pregnancy resource centers, post-abortive ministries and other organizations that provide support care to women facing unexpected pregnancies. We will be back,” the group said.

In 2021 alone in the state of Kansas, 7,849 women terminated their pregnancies according to Kansas Department of Health data. Nearly half of those abortions were from residents from other states that traveled for the procedure. Now with other states banning abortion or restricting access—those numbers could see the potential of climbing especially after President Joe Biden issued an executive order Wednesday to help women crossing state lines for abortions.

“In a decisive vote, in a decisive victory, voters made it clear that politicians should not interfere with the fundamental rights of women,” Biden said.

Going forward from here, abortion will still be legal in Kansas up to 20 weeks, but many of the pro-life grassroots organizations are encouraging people to look at the historic work that has been done this year with Roe v. Wade overturning. {eoa}

Shelby Lindsay is an assistant editor at Charisma Media.