MARCH 22, 2023:
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas proposal based on the disputed idea that providers leave newborns to die after unsuccessful abortions is nearing legislative approval. The push for the legislation comes as Republicans pursue limited anti-abortion measures, following a decisive statewide vote in August protecting abortion rights. The Kansas House was set to take a final vote Wednesday on the bill, which deals with cases when an abortion procedure inadvertently results in a live birth. It would require medical personnel to take the same steps to preserve the newborn’s life as providers would with other live births. Critics say the bill is unnecessary and designed to give abortion care a negative public image.
AUGUST 22, 2022:
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Election officials say a decisive statewide vote in favor of abortion rights in Kansas has been confirmed with a partial hand recount. Nine of the state’s 105 counties recounted votes at the request of two activists who questioned the conduct of the election without providing evidence of problems. The results were confirmed Sunday (Aug. 21, 2022) when Sedgwick County released its results a day after missing a state deadline. Voters on Aug. 2, 2022, rejected a ballot measure that would have removed protections for abortion rights from the Kansas Constitution and allowed the Legislature to further restrict abortion or ban it. It failed by 18 percentage points, or 165,000 votes statewide.
AUGUST 12, 2022:
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Last week, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed state lawmakers to tighten restrictions on abortion. An Associated Press analysis of the voting results found high turnout among Democratic and independent voters contributed to that result. But even in traditionally conservative Kansas — a state Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2020’s presidential election — support for the abortion measure was lower in every single county than support for the former president had been two years ago. In other states, abortion-rights supporters and opponents alike are using the Kansas vote to drive their followers to the polls.
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