Kansas Defends Its Right to Abortion After Voters Shoot Down Proposed Constitutional Amendment

Voters in Kansas on Tuesday night shot down a referendum to the State Constitution, preserving abortion rights throughout the state in the process.

The referendum failed decisively 61% to 39%, with 2,540 of 3,994 precincts reporting, according The Kansas City Star.

This was the first vote on the issue in the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, and a major victory for the abortion rights movement. If passed, it could have led to further restrictions or an abortion ban across Kansas.

"The voters in Kansas have spoken loud and clear: We will not tolerate extreme bans on abortion," Rachel Sweet, the campaign manager for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, told supporters after the victory, The New York Times reported.

This closely watched vote came three months before midterm elections. Its outcome surprised many, in an election where both political parties, per the newspaper, spent a combined $12 million-plus on advertising surrounding the campaign issue.

Kansas borders red states that already have strict abortion bans. In 2020, voters there overwhelmingly backed Donald Trump.

But on Tuesday — even in rural, more typically conservative parts of the state, such as Osage and Franklin counties — voters condemned the referendum by large margins, the Star reported.

"We're watching the votes come in, we're seeing the changes of some of the counties where Donald Trump had a huge percentage of the vote, and we're seeing that just decimated," said Jo Dee Adelung, 63, a Democrat from Merriam, Kan., told The Times.

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Late Tuesday night, the White House released a statement from President Joe Biden, who said "the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion."

"The Supreme Court's extreme decision to overturn Roe v. Wade put women's health and lives at risk," President Biden said. "Tonight, the American people had something to say about it. Voters in Kansas turned out in record numbers to reject extreme efforts to amend the state constitution to take away a woman's right to choose and open the door for a state-wide ban."

Biden continued, "This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions."

A record number of abortion-related bills will be on the docket in November elections, according to NPR, with voters in at least five states deciding possible new outcomes related to the issue.