On Tuesday, 2 August 2022, five states held primary elections ahead of the major general election on 8 November. The news corporations have had their eyes specifically on the Kansas primary for one specific reason – the constitutional referendum up for a vote.
I know not all of my wonderful readers are not in the US, so some may be asking “Why are major news organizations so interested in Dorothy Gale’s home state of Kansas?”
On 24 June 2022, SCOTUS ruled in a way that outlawed abortion and put it into effect in thirteen states’ (Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming) enacting trigger laws. These laws further put restrictions on abortions. A trigger law is a law where once Roe was overturned, these laws (or some states within 30 days of Roe overturning) would outlaw all abortion. Most of these states in particular do not account for rape and incest.
Think of these laws are an “if, then” scenario. If Roe was overturned, then these laws would go into effect. Which is exactly what happened.
Many may not know, but I live in Kansas City on the Kansas side. The day Roe was overturned, I cried for a long time. I may be child-free but I knew that this was going to affect more than just me. The writing was on the wall and it didn’t look good. Our neighbors in Missouri had a law go immediately into effect Attorney General Eric Schmitt signed into law the trigger law. It bans all abortions. No exception – not even for rape or incest.
12 July 2022, I wrote a post about why Roe being overturned is such a monumental issue.
The outcome of the Kansas Primaries brought great news for proponents of reproductive rights. Abortions will be upheld as legal in Kansas per the Kansas Supreme Court jurisdiction in 2019.
There are many caveats as Kansas is historically “red” with abortion only being allowed before 20 weeks post-fertilization (22 weeks after the last menstrual cycle). These caveats also have caveats, if, after the 20/22 week mark, it must be if the carrier of the pregnancy’s life is at risk. Both of these rulings require an ultrasound before the procedure.
Let’s talk about the referendum that was up for a vote. Someone in the propaganda department did their research as the referendum was called “Value them Both.” As if banning abortion would save both lives – although some abortions are because of ectopic pregnancies which are always nonviable.
What was this referendum? As stated, it is to get a Kansas constitutional amendment to ban all abortion in the state of Kansas.
The language of the ballot was… tactfully tricky. The referendum would have added the following to the Kansas Bill of Rights:
Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding for abortions and does not create or secure a right to abortions. 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 accounting for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incents, or circumstances of necessity to the life of the mother.
Due to the ambiguous language in the referendum, the house resolution had to add an explanatory statement further describing that a “yes” vote would open the doors for abortion banning while a “no” vote would keep abortions legal and protected as stated in the 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling.
Who supported this referendum? It was the usual suspects: Evangelicals.
The naming for the referendum “Value Them Both” comes from the “Value them Both Coalition.” Which, per their website, is “made up of Kansas citizens who believe every human life has value.” They state they want to put a stop to “unlimited abortion coming to our state.” Though, it is quite limited per the caveats assigned in 1997 when the Kansas legislature passed the “Woman’s Right to Know Act” which required (“except in the case of medical emergency”) a 24-hr waiting period for getting an abortion, the state laws passed in the 2000s banning abortions at 22 weeks citing that fetuses can feel pain (which is contested by several sources), along with, of course, requiring an ultrasound before an abortion.
Why was this referendum huge compared to the ones in November?
Kansas is as mentioned, historically red. For those not in the US, red means conservative. These “conservatives” are notoriously anti-LGBT+, anti-choice, anti-healthcare, and anti-social safety nets.
2020 Election: 2020 where the nominees were Donald Trump and Joe Biden – Kansas voted for Trump. The exceptions were in normally “blue” (progressive) counties that have large populations/cities (i.e Douglas, Johnson, Shawnee, and Wyandotte). Three of these blue counties flipped from red to blue between 2016 and 2020 – Johnson (seat of Overland Park), Riley (Seat of Lawrence, which is a college town), and Shawnee (seat of the capital, Topeka). Trump won 56.8% of the vote, and Biden got 41.53%
2016 Election: Trump v Hilary Clinton. The only two blue counties were Wyandotte and Douglas. Trump received 56.16% and Clinton received 35.74%.
2012 Election: Obama v Romney. Romney received 59.66% of the vote; Obama received 38.05%
2008 Election: Obama v McCain. McCain received 56.48% and Obama received 41.55%
2004 Election: Bush v Kerry. Bush got 62% of the vote; Kerry received 36.62%
2000 Election: Bush v Gore. Bush received 58%; Gore received 37.2%.
These last 22 years, with conservative votes going to major elections, having a major social issue that conservatives were celebrating the overturn is important. This proves that the next several elections will be based on social issues. Gay rights, contraception, abortion, social safety nets. The American people have wanted issues for years but the government has failed to deliver.
With Kansas, a red state, voting to keep abortion on the state constitution proves that this issue crosses party lines, unlike what the older generations say.
The main thing we can see going forward – at least here in the US elections – is that election will be voted for on social issues.