In Kansas, the number of women arriving from neighboring states for abortions has multiplied since June, the Guardian reported. Women from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas are already dependent on traveling across borders for abortions. However, the rush is already so great that the clinics have to turn women away and send them on to other countries – often many thousands of kilometers.
Unlike in other states, the Republican government of Kansas cannot simply ban abortion at this time because the local constitution enshrines a right to abortion. Should the vote for an amendment to the constitution fail, there is a chance that this right would be severely curtailed or – most likely – abolished altogether.
Million-dollar campaigns before voting
Both abortion opponents and proponents have mobilized in costly campaigns in recent weeks. The organization Kansas for Constitutional Freedom, supported among others by the Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, is said to have raised a total of more than seven million dollars in the fight once morest the constitutional change.
On the other side stands the organization Value Them Both with a six million dollar campaign once morest abortion rights. Most of the money comes from the Archdiocese of Kansas City.
As the BBC reported, the outcome of the vote is open. According to a poll, 47 percent of eligible voters plan to keep the abortion amendment and 43 percent once morest it.
With the upcoming midterm elections in the US in November, the vote in Kansas is an indicator of how the population in conservative states views the issue. The Kansas result is expected to have a major impact on campaigns in other states as well.
Already 43 abortion clinics closed
Since the US Supreme Court’s controversial decision on abortion laws, at least 43 US clinics have stopped providing abortions. In the month since the historic June 24 ruling, 11 states have banned abortion either entirely or following the sixth week of pregnancy, according to a Guttmacher Institute study released Thursday.
As a result, at least 43 abortion clinics have closed or switched to other services. 23 of the clinics are therefore in Texas, five in Oklahoma and five in Alabama. Access to abortion, already very poor in much of the country, will continue to deteriorate as more states enact abortion bans in the coming weeks and months.
US House of Representatives with a new initiative
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives approved two bills in mid-July that are intended to improve abortion opportunities nationwide. The first law aims to reintroduce the right to abortion in principle. The second text aims to protect women who have to travel to another state for abortions.
However, the two legal texts hardly stand a chance. To get them voted in the Senate, the second chamber of Congress, would require the votes of at least ten opposition Republican senators. That is considered almost impossible.
