Kansas votes for abortion rights – Justice Department sues Idaho over planned tightening
Topeka. Voters in Kansas voted in favor of abortion rights in a referendum. Up for a vote Tuesday was legislation that would have allowed the Republican-controlled legislature in the Midwestern state to limit or outlaw abortion. The party previously proposed an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have said abortion rights are not guaranteed. As recently as 2019, the state’s Supreme Court classified access to abortion as a “fundamental” right, preventing a ban.
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The recent decision by the US Supreme Court, dominated by conservative judges, to overturn the landmark ruling on abortion rights that has existed for around 50 years, gave new impetus to Republican efforts in Kansas to either tighten or ban it.
In the end, the vote for abortion rights was surprisingly clear in more conservative Kansas. With a view to the midterm elections in November, the referendum was also seen as the first mood test. In particular, it was observed with excitement how liberal and moderate voters in Kansas would decide.
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Justice Department sues Idaho
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice is taking legal action once morest the state of Idaho over plans to increase abortion rights there. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday in Washington that his department had filed a lawsuit once morest Idaho’s plans to ban abortion in almost all cases, including medical emergencies for pregnant women. The regulation, which should come into force there at the end of August, only provides for an exception for cases in which a woman’s life is in danger, but not for cases in which an abortion is necessary to seriously endanger a woman’s health to prevent.
According to the US Department of Justice, this violates federal law. Because all hospitals that receive certain government funds are required to provide patients in the emergency room with the necessary “stabilizing treatment” to save their lives or prevent serious damage to their health. And under certain circumstances, a termination of pregnancy is absolutely necessary as such “stabilizing treatment”.
US Supreme Court overturned abortion law
At the end of June, the US Supreme Court overturned the almost 50-year right to abortion, arguing that it was not enshrined in the constitution. Because there is no statewide law protecting the right to abortion, legislation now rests with the states.
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Republican-governed US states in particular are now trying to establish restrictive abortion regulations as quickly as possible. The government of US President Joe Biden had sharply criticized the Supreme Court’s decision and announced that it would use all conceivable means to promote abortion rights. The lawsuit once morest Idaho is an example of this.
We will use all means at our disposal to ensure pregnant women receive the emergency medical treatment to which they are entitled under federal law.
Justice Secretary Merrick Garland
“We will use all resources at our disposal to ensure pregnant women receive the emergency medical treatment to which they are entitled under federal law,” Garland said. “And we will be closely reviewing state abortion laws to make sure they are consistent with federal law.”
RND/AP/dpa