Kansans will soon discover the political dishonesty in play when the abortion industry descends on the state to expand operations.
The Value Them Both amendment included on Tuesday’s primary ballot sought to overturn the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt that declared the state constitution guarantees a “fundamental right to abortion.” The amendment proved important because, with Dobbs’ holding that there is no federal constitutional right to abortion, overturning Hodes would have allowed the Kansas Legislature the opportunity to pass robust laws to protect the unborn for the first time in 50 years.
While abortion activists and their apologists in the leftist media will claim that the 59 percent of voters saying “no” to the ballot measure, to a mere 39 percent of “yes” votes, proves the public disagrees with the reversal of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. But the millions spent by out-of-state leftist groups, coupled with the massive misrepresentation of the amendment, make such conclusions suspect. In the last half-year, more than 70 percent of the $6.54 million raised by the lead group campaigning against the amendment came from outsiders, compared to less than 1 percent of the $4.69 million donated by out-of-staters to the Value Them Both campaign.
With a nearly $2 million cash advantage, outsiders succeeded in flooding Kansas with deceptive claims about the Value Them Both amendment, an amendment which, quite simply, would have returned the right to regulate abortions to the state legislature, providing:
“Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion. To the extent permitted by the constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.”
In pushing Kansans to vote “no” to the amendment, the abortion activists inaccurately claimed: “The Legislature currently has the power to pose limits on abortion. To date, there are dozens of restrictions. What the Legislature can’t do is ban the procedure, as the Kansas Constitution currently guarantees access.”
In reality, the Hodes decision created a “fundamental right to abortion” under the Kansas constitution that surpassed the right previously guaranteed under Roe and Casey. And those dozens of restrictions on the books cannot withstand the strict scrutiny the Kansas Supreme Court established for judging regulations affecting abortions, including many passed with bipartisan support.
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R&I – TxPAT
DarkGoldenMan
Article URL : https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/03/deception-drove-kansans-to-vote-down-pro-life-value-them-both-amendment/