Vote on amendment set for August 2"If you are pro-life, you want to vote yes. You want to put control of the decision-making back in your hands – not in the hands of a bunch of state supreme court justices …. For the citizens of the State of Kansas to have any say whatsoever in abortion regulation, they have to vote yes. It's that simple." State Senator Mark Steffen |
Jameson Taylor, Ph.D. of AFA Action, says The Sunflower State is now the battleground for the national pro-life movement.
"Kansas is considering a state constitutional amendment which would say that the Kansas Constitution does not recognize a right to abortion," he explains.
Another thing AFA Action is watching for is the composition of the Kansas Supreme Court.
"As we see abortion bans litigated around the country, state supreme courts are going to be more important," Taylor points out. "Some states have elections for their state supreme courts, [and] in Kansas, they have what are called retention elections, meaning that voters can recall their judges on the state supreme court."
In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court justices decided that the state constitution includes a right to abortion. The legislature and voters immediately rebelled, and people got to work on the Value Them Both campaign to amend the state constitution to rein in what critics called activist judges.
"The left is lying about what the Kansas amendment does," says Taylor. "All it does is restore the right to the people to decide abortion policy for the state of Kansas. It restores the right of the legislature to set abortion policy for Kansas -- to restrict abortion in certain ways, but to pass common-sense regulations to protect the health of women and children."
In the wake of Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in June, Taylor says, "We can no longer depend upon fickle judges and politicians."
"Pro-life states are going to have to amend their state constitutions to recognize the foundational right to life so that activist judges cannot make up a right to abortion in state constitutions," he reiterates. "This is the issue that is going on in Kansas right now: Are activist judges going to be allowed to decide abortion policy for states, are activist judges going to be allowed to decide abortion policy for states, or are the people going to be able to decide?"
If voters do not like abortion policy in their state, Taylor points out that they can elect new lawmakers. But there is often no accountability for judges.
"That's why this constitutional amendment in Kansas is so important," he says. "If this amendment fails in Kansas, the pro-abortion movement will say, 'See? There is not actually support for pro-life protections in states. See? There is not actually support for pro-life amendments in states.' So the fight in Kansas is very important."
With that in mind, he encourages people to educate themselves and their family, friends, and neighbors about what is going on and to tell the truth about what the common-sense amendment does.
The vote is scheduled for August 2; early voting has already begun.
Editor's Note: AFA Action is an affiliate of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
