Voters in five states will have the chance to weigh in on abortion policy changes this November following the rejection of a Kansas ballot measure that sought to end a state right to abortion.
The national debate in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June is playing out in elections across the country, marking a record number of abortion-related ballot measures and in some cases becoming a key political issue even before the mad dash to include additional initiatives that followed the high court’s ruling.
Special interest groups on both sides of the abortion debate have poured millions into turning out core supporters and elevating the issues for the first major post-Roe election. But abortion rights supporters have been energized after defeating a Kansas initiative in early August. In Kansas, 59 percent of primary voters opted against an amendment that would have explicitly added language to the state constitution clarifying that abortion is not a protected right.
