Kansas voters sided with abortion rights in August. Republicans don't care.

[In It to Win It]

Vox

Kansas voters shocked the nation last year when they overwhelmingly rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have said there is no fundamental right to an abortion. But that hasn’t stopped Kansas Republicans from opening the 2023 legislative session by trying to further curtail abortion access anyway.

Just after the Republican-controlled state legislature convened last week, GOP leaders laid out an agenda that included additional restrictions on abortion and more funding for crisis pregnancy centers, which operate to dissuade people from getting abortions. They also identified the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt, which established a right to an abortion in the state constitution, as a key target.

They didn’t offer any details on what the additional abortion restrictions might be; the Kansas GOP and leadership in both legislative chambers did not respond to requests for comment. But abortion advocates are anticipating everything from a ban on abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy to more restrictions on abortion providers and abortion services offered via telemedicine.

Kansas already has some of the toughest restrictions nationwide short of an outright ban. Abortion currently remains legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy and, after that, only in cases where the pregnant person’s health is at risk. There are also a host of other restrictions on the procedure, including parental consent requirements for minors and restrictions on insurance coverage. Still, it’s become a regional haven for those living in nearby states with even more restrictive policies.

Though some national Republicans called the results of last year’s referendum in Kansas a “wake-up call” at the time, it doesn’t seem like the Kansas GOP has seen it as such. Rather, Republicans in the state are digging in their heels, despite the fact that Kansans voted 59 to 41 percent to save their abortion rights.

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[TheRealNorth]

1. Fundamentalist Christian elitists...

Shoving their religious dogma down everyone's throats.

Religious freedom only counts if your a RWNJ "Christian".

Plus, when your state legislature is gerrymandered, you don't have to answer to the majority of the people.

[Bettie]

5. And, these types don't really see

women as people, even the women see women as second class citizens and they like it that way.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

2. All 125 seats in Kansas's House of Representatives were up for election in 2022.

Republicans won 85 of them. They also got 62% of the popular vote.

So Kansas voters may have voted pro-choice in the referendum, but they then turned around and voted in a supermajority of Republicans in the legislature.

[In It to Win It]

3. I've said before that I think voters

often don't realize that they can't have their cake and eat it too when it comes to issues. You can't separate the issue from the people or party you vote for. Those things are inextricably linked.

For example, you couldn't be a Michigan voter that votes for abortion rights in the state constitution and also vote for gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon. You may think you want Tudor Dixon policies and also have abortion rights in the state. You may think that you can have your abortion rights protected and get your Republican governor. The moment Tudor Dixon would have been sworn in, she would undermined abortion rights immediately. Courts won't move fast enough to stop her.

I'm in Florida. You can't be for voting rights, vote to protect it in the state constitution and also vote for Ron DeSantis and vote to retain the justices on the Florida Supreme Court... because Ron DeSantis and the state supreme court - the very people who enforce our state constitution- will undermine it. There is no one else to turn to if these particular people aren't on your side. Our state constitution makes gerrymandering illegal, but if the people who are in charge of enforcing don't care, then you have no recourse. If someone voted to give former felons their voting rights back in 2018 and then subsequently voted for Ron DeSantis and retain the justices on the Florida Supreme Court in 2022, then they must have not really cared about giving former felons back their voting rights because they all (except one justice) have gutted those rights.

In Florida, we also have an express right to privacy that includes the right to abortion. In 2012, Florida voters opted to keep abortion protected in our state constitution. In 2012 and every subsequent election cycle, Republicans have maintained control and have spent the entire time since 2012 (and frankly before 2012) trying to undermine abortion rights. If you vote to protect abortion and then give people power who will do everything to undermine it, then abortion rights must not be that important to you.

To have a well-protected right, voters need to put people in power who will enforce and protect it in good faith. Luckily for Kansas, they re-elected Laura Kelly and retained Democratic-appointees on the state supreme court.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

4. Excellent post, thank you.

The reason abortion is becoming illegal in so many states is that people who say they are pro-choice voted for Republicans. Supposedly something like 70% of people self-describe as pro-choice, but Republicans get around 50% of the vote. So I guess those folks are pro-choice, but it's not really that important to them when it comes to voting.