Kansas votes to maintain abortion rights
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Pro-abortion rights campaigners and supporters in Kansas celebrate the result of a poll over maintaining the procedure.
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Kansas voted to maintain the right to abortion
Abortion rights advocates celebrated Tuesday as the Midwestern US state of Kansas voted to maintain the right to the procedure, the first major poll on the matter since the Supreme Court overturned nationwide access in June.
Kansans rejected an amendment that would have scrapped language in the state constitution guaranteeing the right to the procedure and could have paved the way for stricter regulations or a ban.
The vote was widely seen as a test case for abortion rights nationwide, as Republican-dominated legislatures rush to impose strict bans on the procedure following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Turnout was as high as 50%, and Biden hails result
Pro-abortion rights campaigners and supporters celebrated the win of their side in the contested US debate.
When polls closed at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT), Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said turnout was as high as 50% on this referendum, according to local media, a number usually expected in a general election.
US President Joe Biden also hailed the result, saying that "tonight, Kansans used their voices to protect women's right to choose and access reproductive health care."
"It's an important victory for Kansas, but also for every American who believes that women should be able to make their own health decisions without government interference," he added.
In a separate statement, Biden urged Congress to "listen to the will of the American people" and pass a bill codifying the right to abortion.
Other states including California and Kentucky are set to vote on the issue in November, at the same time as Congressional midterm elections in which both Republicans and Democrats hope to use it to mobilize their supporters nationwide.
All eyes on Oklahoma & Missouri
Abortion rights advocates in Kansas are still looking nervously to neighboring Oklahoma and Missouri, which are among at least eight states to have passed near-total bans -- the latter making no exceptions for rape or incest -- while Midwestern Indiana adopted its own rigid ban on Saturday.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly tweeted her support for the amendment's rejection.
"Kansans stood up for fundamental rights today," the Democrat said.
"We rejected divisive legislation that jeopardized our economic future & put women's health care access at risk," she added.
The outcome in Kansas means that abortion will remain permitted up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
It is noteworthy that Kansas leans heavily toward the Republican Party, which favors stricter abortion regulations, but a 2021 survey from Fort Hays State University found that fewer than 20% of Kansas respondents agreed that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape or incest.
