Kansas

Abortion rights forces scored an upset victory in Kansas on Tuesday when voters rejected an amendment that would have allowed the state legislature to ban ...

And a 2021 survey conducted by Fort Hays State University found that over 50 percent of Kansans agreed with the statement: “The Kansas government should not place any regulations on the circumstances under which women can get abortions.” “People make a lot of assumptions about Kansas,” said Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), the sole Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation, who flipped a previously red district in 2018. “Now I fear they’re going to restrict all abortions again and we’re going to be left back in the Dark Ages.” “This act of desperation won’t stop the voters of Kansas from protecting their constitutional rights and freedom.” Hundreds of volunteers from around the country converged on the state to knock on hundreds of thousands of doors. Not only is Kansas a solidly red state that twice voted for President Donald Trump, but also the supermajority Republican legislature decided to schedule the vote for the primary instead of the general election. The anti-abortion campaign seized on this trend, warning in ads that the state would become an “abortion destination” like California if the amendment failed. Some lawn signs for the “Value Them Both” campaign had NO spray painted over them in black capital letters. The results were also hailed by abortion-rights groups around the country that see the defeat of the Kansas referendum as a blueprint for future efforts in cities and states across the country. “Anti-choice lawmakers take note: The voters have spoken, and they will turn out at the ballot box to oppose efforts to restrict reproductive freedom.” “This level of government overreach — literally interfering in the decisions a physician and patient make together — has resonated with people in Kansas,” she said. Turnout for the primary also soared above usual levels Tuesday, and in some counties was closer to the participation usually seen in a presidential election.

Abortion rights supporters cheer as the proposed Kansas constitutional amendment fails as they watch the call from the networks during the pro-choice Kansas for ...

How the Kansas vote resonates in those states remains to be seen. In more immediate terms, the ballot measure's defeat -- on a day of extraordinary turnout -- also provides a clear indication that the desire to defend abortion rights could be a potent issue for Democrats in the coming midterm elections. While Kansas got their word in, millions of Americans in other states are unlikely to have a similar opportunity -- at least not anytime soon. In the 2018 midterm primary, the figure was lower: 457,598. in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Across party lines, abortion rights are popular and the Supreme Court's ruling is not.

The results were announced surprisingly early on Tuesday night: voters in Kansas had rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have endangered ...

There is a big difference between asking people to weigh in on an issue and asking them to weigh in on a candidate who embodies a range of issue positions. Of particular note is that in every single county, the results on the amendment question were to the left of the 2020 results. When you are voting on a governor or a senator, you’re voting on their support for or opposition to abortion — and a galaxy of other things. Some voters will absolutely turn out to shift elected leadership toward protection of abortion — but many will be motivated to turn out for other reasons. Are voters going to be energized to turn out to vote for a random Democratic House candidate simply to backstop abortion rights? The overturning of Roe turned political debates over abortion from one of figuring out the middle ground on how readily available it should be to one over whether it should be available at all, shifting the political response. In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court decision upending Roe, there was no obvious benefit to Democrats in averages of congressional polling. One argument offered in response was that polls weren’t capturing a shift in enthusiasm. (That’s reflected on the graph below, where every county is to the left of the diagonal line. Yes, that Kansas. So, in short order, observers began extrapolating outward to November. The results in this red state, some argued, showed that abortion access was an unqualified political winner for the left. Or, stripping out the double-negative, Kansans voted in support of protecting access to abortion. That’s more than 25 percent more votes than were cast in the state’s Republican and Democratic Senate primaries.

Democrats celebrated the Kansas vote as a testament to the desire for abortion rights nationwide, even in Republican-held states.

I’m grateful down to my toes for everyone who helped stop this dangerous ballot measure in its tracks.” To many Democrats and analysts, the Kansas vote suggested that an emphasis on abortion rights could pave the way to success in the November midterms. The Kansas vote was the first time abortion rights had been on the ballot since the conservative-dominated supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling which guaranteed the right, in June.

They chose to reject a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortion, and in doing so indicated that they weren't going to ...

The fact that the anti-abortion advocates tried to adopt that language in their ballot proposal tells you a lot. In fact, I would contend that the sneakiness of the whole enterprise backfired. They worded the ballot proposal in an extremely confusing, even misleading, manner.

Democrats emboldened after Kansas abortion vote, as they eye fall campaign · Party leaders on Wednesday sought to capitalize on indicators of strong voter anger ...

Michigan’s ballot measure would add language that protects access to abortion and other reproductive health services and block a 1931 abortion ban from taking effect if it prevails in the courts. But several House races in California and Michigan, where abortion will be on the ballot, are already expected to be close. Antiabortion activists vowed to redouble their efforts in the wake of the Kansas results. The Montana measure would create personhood protections and require doctors to provide lifesaving treatment to infants “born alive” after an attempted abortion. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Washington Post readers responded in droves to a callout asking how they felt — and why. The ballot measure must still receive final clearance, and is pending a sign-off on the signatures. Democrats pointed to the moment as the strongest evidence yet that the conservative-leaning high court’s ruling and other efforts by Republicans to curb abortion rights would backfire politically on the GOP. Most Republicans have sought to campaign on inflation and the economy, steering away from abortion when possible. These include initiatives in California and Vermont, where measures would protect abortion access within those states. Democrats and abortion rights activists, who are largely aligned with the party, are sounding increasingly hopeful notes the two efforts can dovetail. Weighed down by Biden’s low approval ratings and rising prices, Democrats have been eyeing the fall campaign with trepidation, eager to tap into more favorable issues that motivate voters to vote for their candidates. Wade in June, Kansas voters on Tuesday strongly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have opened a path to stripping abortion rights in the state.

Abortion rights activists won a huge victory in the red state of Kansas on Tuesday. Kansans voted overwhelmingly (59% to 41%) to reject an amendment that ...

What's key here is that four years ago, 33% of Kansas primary voters who cast ballots in the major-party primaries did so on the Democratic side. Of all people who voted in a statewide Democratic or Republican primary in Kansas, about 37% cast a ballot in the Democratic primary. The fact that Republicans made up a larger share of the primary vote shouldn't be a surprise given how Republican Kansas is There are going to be a number of states (e.g., Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) where the Democratic and Republican nominees for governor will have very different views on abortion. This means more than 150,000 people likely came out only to vote on the abortion amendment. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 900,000 votes had been counted on the amendment.

The state's politics have never been as simple as the common narrative conveys. Tuesday's vote on an abortion amendment is an example of its ...

“Kansas residents are open to appeals from both sides that push back on the idea of government mandates or involvement in people’s lives,” Dr. Heidbreder said. The measure was on the ballot in a primary, when Republicans usually have a large turnout advantage. Wade was seen as a huge factor, energizing voters and making it easier for pro-abortion-rights groups to drum up turnout. He noted that a majority of Kansans do support abortion rights in at least some circumstances. That unpredictability, she said, dates back to Kansas’ admission as a free state in 1861. The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v.

More than 900,000 Kansans showed up to the polls to vote on the state's abortion referendum. That's the biggest turnout for a primary election in the state's ...

The referendum in particular seems to have brought out women, who are considered to be most affected by abortion laws. Known as “Value Them Both,” the amendment would have removed constitutional protections for abortion that came from a 2019 ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court. Nearly 60 percent of those Kansas voters this year voted against the amendment — or in favor of abortion rights — while about 40 percent voted for it. In the last general election, Kansas, as it has done for decades, went for the Republican candidate. What’s perhaps most surprising about the referendum vote is that it happened in a very Republican state. That number is closer to what we’d expect to see in a general election turnout, which is always vastly higher than primaries. On Tuesday, an unprecedented number of Kansans voted against a constitutional amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to end abortion protections.

Kansans voted resoundingly against an amendment that would have permitted the state's Republican-controlled legislature to ban abortion without exceptions. I ...

The hope of abortion-rights supporters is that this result will put some fear into Republican legislators who haven’t yet enacted these laws, that maybe it’ll slow them down or cause them at the very least not to go quite as far as they might have before this result. They ran a variety of ads, but one of the ads they ran, especially in conservative areas, was really a libertarian-style message, calling the amendment a pathway to a government mandate. Russell: In Michigan, abortion-rights activists are likely to succeed in putting an abortion question on the ballot in November. That’s a very competitive state; there’s a huge governor’s race there, with Democrat Gretchen Whitmer running for reelection. Russell Berman: The surprise in this referendum was how big of a win it was for the abortion-rights side and how big of a defeat it was for the anti-abortion side. Four years of Latin were required, and a choice between French and German … Together with nearly everyone else, I had opted for French. German, especially for a Jewish student in 1942, was a sinister tongue contaminated by its criminal speakers, repellent in its very substance. It included images of the vaccine and mask mandates that, especially in conservative areas, became quite unpopular during the height of the pandemic. Even when I was interviewing people yesterday, before the polls closed, I was asking them to respond to various scenarios—a close win for the abortion-rights side, a close defeat or a decisive defeat for the abortion-rights side. This was a referendum on a confusingly worded ballot question. That was the hope, and even, among some, the assumption. I didn’t even ask about the scenario that we actually saw, which was essentially a landslide rejection of the amendment and a victory for the abortion-rights side. Democrats had been looking at the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Kansans voted resoundingly against an amendment that would have permitted the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to ban abortion without exceptions.

The people of Kansas spoke and now the rest of the country has to listen. Signs in favor and against the Kansas Constitutional Amendment ...

“The lesson that pro-life candidates need to take away from this is that you must drive the contrast and go on offense,” she said. “I think people are going to their polling place and thinking about how they’re not very happy with the state of our economy.” “The conservative Republicans in the state legislature really missed an opportunity when they said this had to be in the primary this year and not the general election back in 2020,” he said. Everyone will have to pick and choose and that’s one we will definitely pick.” “The ‘no’ campaign’s rhetoric about government overreach and intrusion into personal lives was very successful,” he told POLITICO. “Meanwhile, a big failure of the ‘yes’ side is that they weren’t able to look credible to the electorate when they said that the amendment wouldn’t lead to a ban on abortion. Celebrities and musicians with ties to the state released videos urging their fans to get to the polls. “We have to prioritize, and I think we’re going to prioritize lawsuits related to chemical abortion,” Hamrick said. Not only did GOP lawmakers choose the wording of the amendment, they scheduled the vote for the August primary election, when turnout is usually lower than during the general election. “Abortion rights supporters now have an opportunity and an obligation to rebuild pro-choice voting coalitions in states where access has been lost or is at risk,” Rachel Sweet with Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, the group that led the fight against the amendment, told reporters Wednesday morning. But we had several examples of anti-abortion activists and legislators talking publicly about wanting a total ban. “Ballot initiatives are a phenomenally powerful tool when there’s a disconnect between the popularity of an issue and what’s being enacted by politicians. No matter where you live, there is hope on the horizon.”

Rural Republicans joined suburban Democrats to create huge turnout and a broad coalition that voted to preserve abortion rights by a fat margin.

But Ms. Schnieders, a retired teacher, said she also planned to support the re-election of Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat who supports abortion rights, because of her work on education issues. But the abortion rights side also won convincingly in the county that includes Wichita, a more conservative place with a long, sometimes violent, history at the center of America’s abortion debate. She voted against the amendment and in favor of preserving abortion rights. Sharon Schnieders, a Republican from Ottawa, Kan., voted in favor of the amendment to remove abortion protections, in part because of her experience as an adoptive parent. “There’s this reaction of people, like this tremendous right has been taken away from them,” he said. The state hasn’t supported a Democrat for president since 1964, but routinely elects Democratic governors. Wade and a hopeful sign for Democrats in an otherwise foreboding political climate. The result was an election with a stunning 18-point margin that is shaking up national politics ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans in the state hold commanding legislative majorities and have long campaigned on restricting abortion. “We won this race blindfolded and with one arm tied behind our back. “So it’s a very real issue to me, and I know it can be again.” So did her home, Jefferson County, which favored Donald J. Trump by a 32-point margin in 2020.

Democrats and abortion-rights supporters in Texas are energized by voters in Republican-dominated Kansas who on Tuesday resoundingly voted to keep the right ...

“For an issue that is near and dear to the hearts of the Republican Party and conservative movement, if that was to be proposed and rejected that would be a big kick in the gut and I don’t think they want to risk that.” “We’re waiting till Nov. 8 to see how the votes turn out [but] I’m not seeing any kind of a movement in Texas,” Pojman said. Wade — the constitutional protection for abortion in place since 1973 — earlier this summer. Republicans launched that effort because in 2019, the state Supreme Court had ruled that the right to abortion was protected under the state’s bill of rights. See the growing speaker list and buy tickets. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. “What if they proposed it and what if it failed? “[But] I don’t think it will have much effect in our state.” “So even proposing it would not be without hurdles.” Constitutional amendments in Texas must be passed by two-thirds of each chamber. “I have no doubt that played into the ballot results.” “If you’re pro-choice, last night’s result was great for you, but that’s really all that means.

The opposition coalition mobilized a large swath of the state's electorate –including Republican and independent voters – to turn out in historic numbers.

Even as abortion rights forces popped their champagne at the victory party Tuesday, the Value Them Both coalition called the outcome a “temporary setback” in a statement on Twitter, signaling that the battle was far from over. In 2020, it was one of the top donors to outside spending groups trained on defeating Donald Trump. Its spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom also reached out to voters in more rural and conservative areas of the state, Sweet said. There is a disconnect between the majority will and party position.” Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, 21, a Dodge City resident and the event’s organizer, said that the Vote Neigh campaign was designed as a fun way to reach younger, rural voters. “Now that the populism of Kansas has been given a chance to express itself, it made clear that the will of the people has been captured by a single-minded interest of the Republican legislature. That victory was fueled by an opposition coalition that mobilized a large swath of the state’s electorate — including Republican and independent voters — to turn out in historic numbers. The stunning defeat of a well-organized antiabortion movement in a conservative state surprised many observers and even the organizers themselves, who said they capitalized on voter anger after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. “It’s a referendum on the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. On Tuesday, Kansas voters decisively defeated a ballot measure that would have set aside abortion protections in the state’s constitution, paving the way for additional restrictions or even a total ban. About 1 in 5 Republican primary voters turned out in favor of abortion rights, a Washington Post analysis shows. In California, Vermont and Michigan, voters are being asked whether to enshrine abortion protections in their constitutions.

The size and scope of the result were a shock to even the most optimistic Democrats. Not only did voters reject a proposed constitutional amendment that would ...

"Republicans want to take this right away from Americans, and Democrats want to guarantee this freedom and the freedom to control your own body," she said. They believe we should be able to make our own health care decisions, and they will vote accordingly, even in the face of misleading campaigns," said Christina Reynolds, a top operative at EMILY's List, which backs female Democrats who support abortion rights. "As the first state to vote on abortion rights following the fall of Roe v. The results across the country on Tuesday, however, also highlighted a complicated relationship between voters and abortion. Democratic and Republican operatives acknowledged Wednesday that the result in Kansas, while limited to one state, could shift the way each party approaches the midterms. The June ruling has led to bans on the procedure being enforced in several states

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Dave Helling of The Kansas City Star about the historical background of Tuesday night's vote on abortion rights in the state.

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Badges are laid out for canvassers at the Johnson County Democratic Office on August 1, 2022 in Overland Park, Kansas. Topeka, Kansas (CNN) ...

"As our state becomes a abortion destination, it will be even more important for Kansans to support our pregnancy resource centers, post-abortive ministries, and other organizations that provide supportive care to women facing unexpected pregnancies," the coalition said in a statement. We will continue to have to raise the alarm when bad bills are put forward," she said. It gives the legislature the ability to pass laws about abortion. After the US Supreme Court's decision, KCF said they saw an increase in volunteer energy and fundraising. They did this because we found common ground among diverse voting blocks and mobilized people across the political spectrum to vote no," Rachel Sweet, KCF's campaign manager, said during a media call on Wednesday. And the turnout was tremendous

Voters reject a measure that would have let GOP lawmakers restrict or outlaw abortion. Can abortion rights activists replicate the win beyond Kansas?

“I am so happy to go make the case.” It’s now reality that there is no federal protection for abortion rights, and people are seeing the issue in a way that they hadn’t seen six months or a year ago.” “If you ask an open-ended question about what’s going to matter to you going into the election, people say the economy,” she said. The result reflected what polling has long demonstrated: A majority of Americans support the right to abortion. “Essentially, the rubber hit the road. The outcome bucks a recent trend in Republican-leaning states. And it doesn’t have to be in a completely progressive state.” It also enlisted Catholics for Choice and more than 70 religious leaders in the state. The measure appeared on the ballot alongside primary races for congressional seats. “Did this decision anger and call people to want to turn out and do something? After the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade ahead of the midterm elections this November.

State Rep. Stephanie Clayton reacts during the Kansans for Constitutional Freedom election watch party in Overland Park, Kansas, on August 2, 2022. A version of ...

What more voters are likely to list as a top priority is the economy. It will also feature in key governor's races, including in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and especially in Michigan, where the Democratic governor is fighting to keep her job. The vote was so overwhelming -- more than 58% of Kansas primary voters voted to protect abortion rights -- that it could not have happened without help from Republicans in the red state. In fact, turnout -- more than 900,000 people took part in the primary -- was on the level of recent midterm general elections. conducted July 22-24, a 65% majority said the ruling overturning Roe vs. The Kansas primary question was different, about whether lawmakers should have the power to regulate abortion rights. Where abortion might have less impact as an issue. But abortion is not on most November ballots. , before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. The voters resoundingly said no. Activists who support abortion rights in Michigan have submitted signatures to secure space on the November ballot for an amendment to add protection for abortion rights to the state's constitution and erase a 1931 abortion ban The result is a ray of hope for Democrats. They want to use the issue of abortion to drive voters to the polls in November, when control of the House and Senate is on the line.

Educational policies, such as "zero tolerance" rules, disproportionately affect children of color and set them on harmful paths.

Through the end of 2022, commissioners will dig deeper into the recommendations in a monthly series. We must disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and support youth who are currently affected. The commission recommends increasing availability of infant/early childhood mental health consultation services in the state to ensure children receive age-appropriate behavioral health support. In 2013-2014, Black preschool students in Kansas were 5.6 times more likely than their white peers to receive out-of-school suspension and the trend continued throughout K-12 education. In the Kansas juvenile justice system, disparities are most prevalent at the arrest level — although total arrests have decreased, disparities have climbed. The Commission developed recommendations for state agencies, the Legislature, and local governments. Implicit bias plays a role in creating the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline begins as early as preschool, when students are pushed out of school through out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. Rates of depression and anxiety among kids 3 to 17 have increased over the past five years — they were already trending upward before the pandemic. In Kansas, the school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately affects children of color. To address these issues, it is critical for educators beginning in the preschool setting through K-12 to receive implicit bias training. The commission’s final report made recommendations in the areas of early childhood development, behavioral health, juvenile justice, and school resource officers.

After a broad victory in a deep-red state, Democrats are vowing to elevate the fight over abortion rights in midterm races across the country.

“For decades that hasn’t been true so it’s difficult for some people who have been through lots of tough battles and lots of tough states to recognize that the ground has shifted under them. “What Democrats should say is that for Americans your bedroom is on the ballot this November.” “But there is a relationship here, because voters want leaders to be focused on fighting inflation, not banning abortion,” he said. There is always the risk, some longtime strategists warn, of getting distracted from the issues that polls show are still driving most Americans. Other tests of the impact of abortion on races are coming sooner. Kansans voted down the amendment in Johnson County — home to the populous, moderate suburbs outside Kansas City — rejecting the measure with about 70 percent of the vote, a sign of the power of this issue in suburban battlegrounds nationwide. Some of the messaging was aimed at moderate, often suburban voters who have toggled between the parties in recent elections. On Tuesday, Michigan Republicans nominated Tudor Dixon, a former conservative commentator, for governor, who has opposed abortion in cases of rape and incest. After months of struggling with their own disengaged if not demoralized base, Democratic strategists and officials hoped the results signaled a sort of awakening. “They don’t have a clue about the power of American women.” “That’s the main lesson of Kansas.” Democrats hoped the Supreme Court decision this summer erasing the constitutional right to an abortion would change that, as Republican-led states rushed to enact new restrictions, and outright bans on the procedure took hold.

Kansas offers no such subsidies at this time. What it does have, however, is a state amendment protecting women's reproductive rights and a populace that just ...

Republican and Democratic strategists are recalibrating how much of an issue abortion rights will play in the midterm elections after a decisive vote by ...

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While Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has the clear advantage in November's election, Democratic nominee Mark Holland says he's not giving up on rural Kansas ...

A lot of the rural counties are very conservative, and we need to be willing to lose less badly. “You have to get more personal, it can’t be a postcard in the mail,” she said. A lot of his friends and neighbors register as Republicans just to make their votes count, but he said they think about issues the way he does. The growing urban and suburban counties may be the Democrats’ best hope. But Moran has managed to walk a thin line and maintain a reputation for being independent. Right now (Washington) D.C. is in a pointless culture war, a race to the bottom rather than working together to make our country the best it can be.” He supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. “No one else has the right to do that. He was running for county commissioner as a Democrat, like his father and grandfather before him. A new feeling of judgment has crept into the air. Recent events — the uncertain economy, ongoing mass shootings and the explosive Jan. 6 hearings — have some voters here trying to understand how a new political reality has shaped their day-to-day lives. Cheerleaders for the Wellington High Crusaders marched with big smiles and bigger orange bows in their hair.

Far from it, the vote defeating a constitutional amendment to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling on abortion is a rousing vindication of Justice Alito's ...

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A surge of Kansas voters rejected an anti-abortion amendment in an unexpected landslide, winning by 18 percentage points.

“That is something that would resonate no matter where you live in the country.” From the moment lawmakers passed this amendment back in 2021, and put this vote on the 2022 primary ballot, we knew this would be an uphill battle.” Let us all reach out and give them all the help and hope we can.” A surge of Kansas voters responded by rejecting the amendment in an unexpected landslide. The organization successfully characterized the constitutional amendment as an attack on personal rights and freedom. “I have four daughters, and this” — All paused.