The United States had its eyes riveted on Kansas for several days. The voters of this conservative state finally voted on Tuesday for the maintenance of the constitutional guarantee on abortion. Called to the polls, they rejected an amendment that would have removed the text guaranteeing the right to abortion in the Constitution of the State and could have paved the way for stricter regulation or a ban. In this state, abortion will therefore remain authorized up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. Parental authorization is required for minors.
“People are determined to vote”
Very controversial in the United States, the right to abortion attracted Kansas voters en masse to the polls: turnout was 50% when they closed at 7 p.m., according to Scott Schwab, in charge of oversee elections in Kansas. For example, nearly 250 voters had passed by noon by the Olathe polling station, in the suburbs of Kansas City, the same number at this time as during a presidential election, according to the electoral agent Marsha Barrett. “People are determined to vote” she pointed out.
A conservative state nestled in the American Midwest, the Kansas vote was seen as a political test to take the national temperature, two months after the Supreme Court of the United States canceled the federal right to abortion. Especially since in Kansas, the political scene is fragmented: the state leans heavily Republican and has not voted for a Democrat in the White House since 1964. But the most populous county in Kansas elected a Democrat, Sharice Davids, in the House of Representatives in 2018, and the governor of the state, Laura Kelly, is also 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.
“Remarkable” result
After the announcement of the results, the defenders of the right to abortion celebrated the victory of their camp, and their reactions multiplied on social networks. It’s a result “outstanding”, said Ashley All, spokesperson for the abortion rights campaign. “The people of Kansas understood that this amendment would impose government control over private medical decisions,” she continues, emphasizing the result “outstanding”. Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly tweeted: “People in Kansas stood up for basic rights today.”
But this victory is mixed because while abortion advocates have won a clear victory in Kansas, they are watching 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.