The voters of Kansas (United States) voted this Tuesday in a referendum overwhelmingly in favor of keep intact the right to abortion as it is currently regulated in the Constitution of that state. The result of the popular consultation is a defeat for the conservatives, who sought to restrict it.
According to the projections of the main American media, with 90% of the votes counted, more than 60% of voters rejected changing the state Constitution to restrict the right to abortion.
“Kansas voters went to the polls in record numbers to reject extremist efforts to amend the state Constitution to take away women’s right to choose” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
“This vote makes clear what we already know: that a majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make your own health decisions“, added the president.
The one in Kansas was the first referendum held by an American state after the Supreme Court’s ruling that annulled the “Roe v. Wade” ruling, and thus eliminated the federal right to abortion and left the legislation on the subject in the hands of each state.
The consultation, which was held to coincide with the primary elections in Kansas this Tuesday, could have opened the door for the state government to legislate to restrict the right to abortionwhich however will now remain legal until 22 weeks of gestation.
It was a particularly relevant referendum because it could have set a precedent for other states.
Despite having a Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, the state of Kansas has a strong Republican tradition and that party controls the offices of the attorney general, the secretary of state and both houses of the state legislature.
In addition, in the presidential elections also Republicans dominate. In fact, Donald Trump was the favorite presidential candidate there in the last two elections, with 56% of the vote.
This Tuesday’s referendum had been harshly criticized by civil organizations, who denounced that the question text was not clear enoughwhich, they denounced, was an attempt to “misinform and confuse those who oppose abortion,” according to the organization Planned Parenthood.
In the event that the “yes” vote had been imposed on the constitutional reform, the state legislature would have been in charge of approving laws on the procedure, which could have opted for a greater restriction of time or exceptions or for the total banit’s happening in other states.
Since the Supreme Court on June 24 – with a conservative majority of six judges against three progressives – ended the federal protection of the right to abortion (in force since 1973 thanks to the ruling “Roe v. Wade”), many women from states like Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri have traveled to Kansas to have an abortiongiven the restrictions imposed in their states.
This same Tuesday, the attorney general of the United States, Merrick Garlandannounced a lawsuit against the state of Idaho for considering that its law against abortion “criminalizes doctors” and prevents them from freely practicing terminations of pregnancy when the woman’s health is at risk.
The Department of Justice sued Idaho for violating the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, to try to protect doctors who have to intervene when abortion is “necessary medical treatment to stabilize a patient’s emergency medical condition.
This is the first Justice Department action against a state since the Supreme Court ruling, and she won’t be the only oneas Garland himself explained at a press conference.
The prosecutor pointed out that the working group on reproductive rights created as a result of the decision of the highest court in the country is dedicating itself to evaluating “the changing landscape of state laws” and they are already studying “additional litigation” against other states.
The idea is to “do everything possible to ensure continued legal access to reproductive services” in these “scary and uncertain times for pregnant women and its suppliers,” said US Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
With the complaint in Idaho, it is sought to put a stop to the law of that state that would come into force on August 25 and imposes on doctors the burden of prove in court that they are not criminally responsibleafter being arrested and charged.
Other states, including California and Kentucky, will vote on the issue in November, at the same time as the congressional midterm elections, in which both Republicans and Democrats hope mobilize their supporters across the country around abortion.
Source: EFE.