Days before the election, a misleading mailer went out to Kansans that falsely implied voters can protect abortion rights by ousting Kansas Supreme Court justices.
Six of the state’s seven justices are up for retention on Nov. 8, including Chief Justice Marla Luckert and Justice Eric Rosen, who signed onto the 2019 ruling that found a right to an abortion in the state constitution. That ruling ensures the procedure will remain protected in Kansas even after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, enabling neighboring Missouri and other states to issue abortion bans.
But a mailer, distributed by a longtime Kansas Republican consultant, urges voters to vote against the state justices’ retention as a way to protect abortion rights. The mailer seeks to tie the Kansas justices to the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to strike down the federal right to an abortion. It features a photo of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, the five conservative jurists who signed onto the controversial ruling in June.
