Kansas voters have protected abortion rights by rejecting a measure that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten abortion restrictions or ban it outright.
The vote Tuesday was the first test of voters' feelings about abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June. Voters rejected a change in the Kansas Constitution to ensure that it does not grant a right to an abortion so that legislators could regulate it as they see fit.
The measure was a response to a 2019 state Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights. Supporters of the change would not say whether they would pursue a ban, while opponents predicted one would be coming if the measure had passed.
It was a major victory for abortion rights advocates following weeks in which many states in the South and Midwest largely banned abortion.
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Voters rejected a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have added language stating that it does not grant the right to abortion. A 2019 state Supreme Court decision declared that access to abortion is a "fundamental" right under the state's Bill of Rights, preventing a ban and potentially thwarting legislative efforts to enact new restrictions.
The referendum was closely watched as a barometer of liberal and moderate voters' anger over the June ruling scrapping the nationwide right to abortion. The measure's failure also was significant because of how conservative Kansas is and how twice as many Republicans as Democrats have voted in its August primaries in the decade leading up to Tuesday night's tilt.
Primary elections were held around the country. Tudor Dixon, a conservative commentator, won the GOP primary for Michigan governor, emerging atop a field of little-known conservatives days after Trump endorsed her. She will face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
In Missouri, Attorney General Eric Schmitt won the Republican nomination for senator.Â
Also tonight:
- Laura Kelly wins Democratic nomination for governor in Kansas primary election.
- Jerry Moran wins Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Kansas primary election.
- Derek Schmidt wins Republican nomination for governor in Kansas primary election.
- Tudor Dixon wins Republican nomination for governor in Michigan primary election.
- Mark Holland wins Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Kansas primary election.
- Rep. Haley Stevens has defeated Rep. Andy Levin in their Democratic congressional primary in Michigan.
- Katie Hobbs wins Democratic nomination for governor in Arizona primary election.
- Trudy Busch Valentine wins Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri primary election.
In Arizona, with vote totals still coming in, the Republican Party's embrace of Donald Trump's election lies was tested Tuesday as voters in Arizona choose between candidates who say they wouldn't have certified the results of the 2020 campaign and those who argue it's time to move on.
And two Republican House members from Washington state who voted to impeach Trump are facing primary challengers.
A look at 50 years of Supreme Court abortion decisions
1973
The court legalizes abortion nationwide in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
In photo:Â Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe in the 1973 court case, left, and her attorney Gloria Allred hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC., Wednesday, April 26, 1989.Â
1976
The court strikes down a Missouri law requiring a married woman to get her husband's consent for an abortion.
1986
The court strikes down portions of a Pennsylvania law it said attempted to intimidate women into continuing pregnancies by, among other things, requiring them to be told the risks associated with abortion.
1989
The court declines to overrule Roe but allows more state regulation of abortion.
1992
The court reaffirms its decision in Roe and says states can't ban abortion before viability, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb, around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
2000
The court strikes down a Nebraska law that barred an abortion procedure used during the second trimester of pregnancy. The law didn't have an exception to the ban for the health of the pregnant woman.
2007
In a decision weakening Roe, the court upholds the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act passed by Congress, which is similar to Nebraska's law.
2016
In its strongest defense of abortion rights in 25 years, the court strikes down Texas rules forcing clinics to meet hospital-like standards and doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
2020
A more conservative court strikes down a Louisiana law nearly identical to the Texas one it struck down in 2016.
2021
The court declines to take emergency action and allows a Texas law banning abortion beginning at around six weeks to take effect.
2022
The court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years.
