I’ve been spending a little time reading this, so my understanding may be incomplete. But let me explain what has happened so far, as I understand it. I’m not in Kansas, and have no first hand knowledge.
In 2019 the Kansas State Supreme Court ruled that the Kansas State Constitution protected a Woman’s right to an Abortion.
The court said that the state's Bill of Rights "allows a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body ... decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy."
www.npr.org
As I understand it, Anti Abortion forces decided that a Constitutional Amendment for Kansas would overturn the decision of the Supreme Court. So they put forth a ballot initiative to amend the Kansas State Constitution to allow the Legislature to decide if Abortion would be legal in Kansas, or not. All questions would be decided by the Legislature.
For some reason, this decision would be made during the Primary, not during the general election. Anyway, the decision was strongly against the Anti-Abortion proponents. In other words, Voters turned out in record numbers to vote, and they voted to protect a Woman’s right to an abortion.
The proposed amendment was the first time anywhere in the U.S. that voters cast ballots on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
www.nbcnews.com
The Anti Abortion folks aren’t taking this loss well. They plan on going to the Courts to get the decision they want. Their plan now, to oust the Kansas State Supreme Court Justices who made the initial decision, and then have new Judges decide the issue their way, so they can then ban Abortion in the Legislature.
Though the amendment’s failure is a setback for anti-abortion activists the issue has long held a prominent space in Kansas politics and activists signaled they have no plans to give up. As early as November, they’ll have the opportunity to attempt to oust members of the Supreme Court that declared abortion to be a right.
Ousting judges could be a pathway to overturning the 2019 decision.
“I certainly think there’s a pathway with a different composition of judges,” said Elizabeth Kirk, director for the Center for Law and the Human Person at Catholic University. “It could be overturned if a future court thought that nothing in the 1859 state constitution included a right to abortion.”
So Voters in Kansas have spoken, and the RW likes to claim that the Democrats use the courts to get what they can’t win at the Ballot Box, and what do the RW do? Immediately plan on using the courts to get what they can’t win at the ballot box.
Or perhaps we could say that the RW doesn’t give a shit about the Voters, and what they want. In fact, the Anti-Abortion folks think that their own voters are pretty stupid.
The Anti Abortion folks claim that the question was confusing. Apparently Reading Comprehension isn’t a strong trait in the voters on the Right according to their own advocates.
For one, they have expressed concern the ballot measure featured language they argued was intentionally designed to confuse voters. For example, the language used on the ballot said that a “yes” vote on the question would affirm that “the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion” — even though no such requirement exists — “and does not create or secure a right to abortion.” A “yes” vote would have affirmed that “the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion,” something lawmakers are limited in doing now based on the 2019 court ruling.
Abortion rights advocates supported a “no” vote on the measures, which makes no changes to the status quo.
So how does that make you Conservatives Feel? Kansas, a solidly Red State, turned against you on the question of a Woman’s right to choose. And of course, the advocates for your cause think that the voters turned against them because the voters are idiots and too stupid to understand the ballot question. The voters who are supposedly voting for them.
www.rawstory.com
