Kansas votes to keep abortion right in test case

Rights will remain.

Abortion rights in the US state of Kansas have been voted to be maintained, giving people living there the right to the procedure despite Roe V Wade being overturned. This is the first major poll on the issue since the Supreme Court's ruling in June. Those from Kansas rejected an amendment that would have gotten rid of language in the state constitution guaranteeing the right to the procedure and stricter regulations or even a ban could have come in. The vote in Kansas was seen as a test case for other US states, with Republican-dominated legislatures rushing to place bans in various states. The results of this vote showed that the majority of people are in favour of keeping abortion in the state constitution, reflecting the studies across the US that have shown the majority of Americans support access to abortion. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said that the turnout for this vote was as high as 50% with reports of it being higher than the turnout for a general election. Other states like California and Kentucky are also set to vote on the issue in November at the same time as the Congressional midterm elections. This ballot centred on a 2019 ruling that saw the state's supreme court guaranteeing access to abortion. Responding to this, the Republican-dominated state legislature introduced an amendment called Value Them Both which would have essentially banned the right to abortion. Its opposition said the campaign was clearly a mask for an outright ban, with one register already saying it would ban it completely, including in cases of rape, incest or risk to the mother's life. Activists in yesterday's vote complained about the wording on the ballot being confusing as to vote Yes meant abortion rights would be curbed while voting No was for those who wanted to keep abortion right intact. Why it has been maintained in Kansas, they are now looking to Oklahoma and Missouri as they are two neighbouring states that have passed near-total bans, with Indiana putting one in place on Saturday.