WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 02: An activist, who declined to provide her name, speaks outside the Supreme Court in protest against the new Texas abortion law that prohibits the procedure around six weeks into a pregnancy on September 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court declined to block the law and will let the legal battle play out in the lower courts. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Kansas provided the first vote on abortion laws since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and returned the right to individual states to decide how they will approach reproduction rights.
Voters defeated an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have eliminated the constitutional right to abortion by a wide margin. At 10:30 p.m. EST, 62% of voters had voted ‘no,’ enough to allow networks to project that the measure would be defeated once all the votes were counted.
Right now, abortion is legal in the state if the procedure takes place within 22 weeks of conception. Kansas has also been a haven for those in surrounding states like Texas and Missouri.
If the measure had been approved, the GOP-dominated state Legislature was likely to restrict further or enact a ban on abortion.
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The ‘no’ vote means the continuation of the 22-week period that abortions are currently legal.
“Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion,” the language of the question reads. “To the extent permitted by the constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.”
Kentucky and Michigan are slated to vote on a similar measure in the general election in November.
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