Voters in Kansas rejected an effort by anti-abortion groups to amend the state’s constitution to allow the Republican-controlled legislature to pass more restrictive abortion laws.
According to Decision Desk HQ the ‘Value them Both’ amendment has failed which means a 2019 decision by the state Supreme Court establishing a right to abortion in the Kansas Bill of Rights remains intact.
This is the first abortion-related vote since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
“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 amendment reads.
Voters were allowed to choose “yes” if they support eliminating the right to abortion under Kansas law, or “no” if they want to leave the constitutional protections to abortion unchanged, according to Insider.
Though results are still being counted, Decision Desk projected that the amendment has failed. “No” votes were leading by nearly 25 points with 90 percent of the votes in.
Residents of Kentucky will vote on a similar measure in November, while voters in California and Vermont will decide whether to enshrine the right to an abortion in the constitutions of their respective states.
