Voters in Kansas, in the American Midwest, voted on Tuesday, August 2, to maintain the constitutional guarantee on abortion, in the first major vote on abortion since the United States Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.
Residents of this conservative state have rejected an amendment that would have removed language guaranteeing the right to abortion in the state Constitution and could have paved the way for stricter regulation or a ban. The result in Kansas means that abortion will remain legal until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Parental authorization is required for minors.
This election was seen as a political test at the national level, many conservative states having already banned or intending to quickly ban any right to abortion.
A “crazy” election
Moments after polls closed at 7 p.m. (2 a.m. Wednesday morning in Paris), Kansas election overseer Scott Schwab said turnout was at least 50 percent, a figure in line with expectations for this type of ballot.
At noon, nearly 250 voters had passed through the Olathe polling station, in the suburbs of Kansas City, the same number at this time as during a presidential election, according to electoral agent Marsha Barrett. “This election is crazyshe said. People are determined to vote. »
At 19, Morgan Spoor voted for the first time and assured that he wanted to promote “the right to choose”. “I really want to make my voice heard, especially as a woman. I don’t think anyone can say what a woman can do with her body.”did she say.
Prairie Village resident Chris Ehly also spoke out against changing the Constitution to “respect” his wife and daughter, “categorical on the issue”he explained.
On the contrary, Sylvia Brantley, 60, said « oui » to change because she thinks that “babies matter too”. She explained that she wants more regulations, so that Kansas is not a place “where babies are killed”.
A State with a contrasting political reality
Although supporters of « non » won a clear victory in Kansas, they watch with anxiety 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, are due to vote on the issue in November, coinciding with midterm congressional elections in which Republicans and Democrats hope to rally their supporters around abortion.
The vote, which coincided with the Kansas primaries, 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 has not voted for a Democrat in the White House since 1964. But Kansas’ most populous county elected a Democrat, Sharice Davids, to the House of Representatives in 2018, and the governor of state, 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.