The overwhelming support for abortion rights in a traditionally conservative state bolsters Democrats’ hopes that the Supreme Court’s decision will rally voters in a difficult election year for their party. Polling in Kansas indicates that Can be affected by the issue of abortion Participation in the midterm elections in November – A . wrote Washington Post.
The referendum question was whether abortion protections should be removed from the state constitution. A majority of yes votes would have allowed the Kansas Republican-led legislature to pass abortion restrictions or even complete ban. The referendum was held at the same time as the state primaries.
With 90 percent of the vote counted, 60 percent of voters wanted abortion protections to be preserved, while 40 percent wanted it removed from the state constitution.
Turnout in Tuesday’s primaries exceeded other elections in recent years.
The Associated Press estimated that about 900,000 Canadians voted. This is nearly double the number of participants in the 2018 primaries (473,438).
Kansas is a stronghold of anti-abortion activism
Kansas has long been a stronghold of anti-abortion activism. During the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” protests against abortion, thousands of protesters gathered in Wichita and were arrested for sit-ins and blockades of clinics. In 2009, George Teller, head of one of the nation’s third-trimester abortion clinics, was murdered in Wichita by an anti-abortion extremist.
Abortion-rights proponents say the Republican legislature has manipulated the situation in its favor by passing stricter restrictions that made it difficult for new voters to register, vote on primaries day rather than the general election, and made the polling question too complex to confuse many. voters.
Abortions in Kansas have increased 13 percent in the past two years, according to statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environmental Protection. This drew criticism from abortion opponents that the state, led by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, was turning into an abortion “sanctuary” for foreigners seeking the procedure.
Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders welcomed the decision on Facebook.
I congratulate the people of Kansas for participating in great numbers to make clear that women control their bodies, not the government
– He said.
