How abortion rights were won in conservative Kansas
For abortion rights activists, Kansas voters’ overwhelming rejection Tuesday of a ballot measure that would have allowed Republican lawmakers to restrict or outlaw the procedure is not just an unexpected victory in this conservative state.
It is a road map for future battles.
The activists say their campaign — the first major public test of abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion in June — provides lessons for upholding abortion rights across the nation.
“There is a path to fighting back,” said Emily Wales, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “We want to say to people living in states that have lost rights, who are feeling defeated, that Kansas shows it can be done. And it doesn’t have to be in a completely progressive state.”
The ballot measure would have removed the right to abortion from the
