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Tonight
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Next summer, you’ll get to decide whether abortions remain legal in Kansas.
That’s because the Kansas Legislature recently approved changing the state Constitution to enshrine in that document that women do not have a fundamental right to have an abortion. As is required for constitutional amendments, voters will have to approve that change.
Conservatives are driving the train here, as you would guess. Anti-abortion activists say the state needs the change to protect its current abortion laws against potential court challenges.
State law currently bans a few abortion methods; women also generally can’t get abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy. The law in Kansas also says life begins at fertilization.
Republicans defend the vote they just took by saying that the point is not to ban abortions entirely, but they want the protect the Legislature’s power to regulate abortions. They also say that they’re turning the issue over to voters.
In fact, you’ll almost surely hear a lot along those lines. The marketing gimmick will be to scare you about “activist judges” and “let voters decide,” and all that.
But the real agenda here is ultimately to make abortion illegal. Anti-abortion activists just want to frame the issue now in a low-stakes way. But the point across the whole country is to take a case to the U.S. Supreme Court so as to overturn the court ruling in Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal.
The fact that the election on this particular matter in Kansas will be held in August of an off-year election — during a primary, when turnout is lowest — is an indication that Republicans figure that’s when it will have the best chance of passing. Keep in mind that Republicans control the Legislature. That also belies the entire “let the people decide” argument.
The other side will frame it as a referendum on the legality of abortion. While that’s not technically true — and therefore will tend to draw liberals into hyperbole — it is still fundamentally true.
You’ll have a chance to decide yourself. We aren’t here to argue about abortion at this moment. We simply want to point out that you’re going to have to make a choice, and that, although they will try to convince you otherwise, the stakes are high.