by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
While yesterday's political results in Missouri's major races ranged from mundane to downright disappointing, it was a far different story just across the state line in Kansas. There Republican politicians had placed a state constitutional amendment on the ballot that would have removed the right to an abortion from the state constitution and allowed state legislators to place restrictions on the medical procedure or ban it outright. GOP politicians chose to place the amendment on the primary election ballot because that election generally has low voter turnout - which they hoped would lead to a better chance that the measure would pass.
The Catholic Church and several other right-wing extremist political groups poured millions of dollars into a campaign to pass the amendment.
(Tax the Church!)
But the effort to take the right to an abortion away from women in Kansas was all in vain. The Kansas Secretary of State had predicted a voter turnout of around thirty-six percent, but it now looks as though the total may top sixty percent! People were fired up, particularly on that issue, and they were voting! As of around 8:00 a.m. today the "Value Them Both" amendment was going down in flames by a vote of 534,134 (58.8%) to 374,611 (41.2%) , or almost 160,000 votes. The victory for the "no" votes means the Kansas State Constitution will not be changed to allow politicians to restrict or eliminate abortions in the state. It is a major win for reproductive health care and women's rights to control their own bodies.
Most pundits and political prognosticators had predicted a tight vote on the Kansas constitutional amendment, and the more than 17-point defeat of the "pro-life"measure undoubtedly took many by surprise. It was not even close!
This election was especially important because it was the first test of public support for the Supreme Court's Roe v Wade reversal of last June - and it was a resounding rejection of the Court's action. Many see the voters' rejection of placing limits and bans on abortion in Kansas as being a harbinger of things to come in other states, and many politicians are undoubtedly rethinking their election calculus based on the lopsided results in yesterday's massive win for pro-abortion forces in Kansas.
The "free state" is still proudly exercising its freedom!
1 comment:
Hooray for Kansas! Yet, I wonder if someone in conservative Kansas ranks is thinking up a new, catchy title for the next vote. Change the wording a little so that voting "no" negates abortions just to add a little confusion, changes a definition, or adds it to another issue. It is something to keep an eye on.
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