On Aug. 2, Voters in Kansas will decide to remove abortion rights from the state’s Constitution since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
The election, the first of its kind since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, could give insight into Americans’ views on abortion access and what limitations they support regarding the procedure (via The New York Times):
The election could give the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature authority to pass new abortion limits or to outlaw the procedure entirely, potentially reshaping the map of abortion access in the nation’s center. The vote, which has been planned since last year but took on far higher stakes after the federal right to abortion was eliminated, is expected to send a message far beyond Kansas as politicians nationwide weigh new abortion measures and watch for signs of how the public is reacting.
The Times noted that the pro-life and pro-abortion sides have spent more than $11 million combined on the election this year on the issue. A pro-abortion supporter, Courtney Schmitz, told the publication that she felt a “sense of duty” to make sure women from out-of-state could come to Kansas for abortions.
Townhall reported this year how women were reportedly traveling from Texas to Kansas to obtain abortions after Texas enacted a “heartbeat” abortion law last September. The Texas Tribune reported that clinics in neighboring states were filling up with patients from Texas, one in particular was the Trust Women health clinic in Wichita, Kansas.
“Up to half of the patients at Trust Women’s Wichita clinic are from out of state, with a large proportion from Texas,” the Tribune’s report stated. Reporters from the Tribune visited the clinic to see the impact firsthand. The clinic staff said in a video from the visit that they’ve been “inundated with pregnant Texans seeking abortions.”
However, the Tribune did not speak to any Texans who traveled to Trust Women’s during their visit. Reportedly, none of the Texan patients showed up for their appointments.
“The Texas Tribune visited Trust Women’s Wichita clinic to learn more about the Texans visiting the clinic and the staffers providing care,” the report stated. “While Texans scheduled for procedures during the Tribune’s visit did not ultimately show for their appointments, workers at the clinic said that Texas patients have told them about the compounded stress of seeking an abortion outside of their home state."
Susan Humphries, a state representative from Wichita, told the Times that “we don’t want to be an abortion destination.”
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court case overturned Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey last month. The justices wrote in the majority opinion that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to abortion and determined that both cases were wrongly decided.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the opinion stated.
“Like the infamous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, Roe was also egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided. Casey perpetuated its errors, calling both sides of the national controversy to resolve their debate, but in doing so, Casey necessarily declared a winning side. Those on the losing side—those who sought to advance the State’s interest in fetal life—could no longer seek to persuade their elected representatives to adopt policies consistent with their views. The Court short-circuited the democratic process by closing it to the large number of Americans who disagreed with Roe.”
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