that was the scene in kansas after resounding victory for abortion rights at the polls. kansans voted overwhelmingly to protect the right to an abortion in the constitution. not only was the result surprising in a state s conservative as kansas but, the margin wasn t even close. kansas voters rejected the anti-abortion measure by nearly 20 points and what s remarkable about the outcome is that kansas republicans did everything they possibly could to stack the deck in their favor. for starters, they scheduled the vote during a typically low turnout august primary instead of during the general election in november, because yesterday s primary focused mostly republican candidates running against each other and would presumably attract mostly republican voters. they made the language of the ballot measures so dense and confusing that the normal person would be hard-pressed to decipher at first glance what s a yes or a no vote even meant. republican groups even blasted out a barra
for starters, they scheduled the vote during a typically low turnout august primary instead of during the general election in november, because yesterday s primary focused mostly republican candidates running against each other and would presumably attract mostly republican voters. they made the language of the ballot measures so dense and confusing that the normal person would be hard-pressed to decipher at first glance what s a yes or a no vote even meant. republican groups even blasted out a barrage of misleading text messages to kansas voters the day before the vote that made it sound like voting yes would protect a woman s right to choose when in fact the opposite is true. but despite all those obstacles, voter turnout was massive, far from the usual trickle of voters for an august primary in a midterm here. turnout approached nearly presidential levels. and the votes to defeat the antiabortion measure didn t just come from the urban and suburban counties where most of
they haven t elected a democratic senator since 1932. there is one elected democratic official in its entire congressional delegation. but it s not just any red state, it is kansas which has been a national flash point over abortion rights since at least 1991 when antiabortion activists from all over the country descended on the state and blocked access to abortion clinics for weeks in what they call the summer of mercy. an abortion provider dr. george tiller was murdered by an antiabortion activist in his church in wichita in 2009. the church where he was murdered by the way was yesterday a polling place. but the main reason that this resounding abortion rights victory in kansas is resonating nationwide is that abortion
overturned roe v. wade, and the outcome would seem touches suggest that the backlash to that ruling and two republican efforts in its wake to restrict or ban abortion is real and it is very strong. also, this happened in a very red state. donald trump won kansas by 15 points less than two years ago. kansas does sometimes elect moderate democratic governors but they haven t voted for a democrat for president since lyndon johnson. i haven t elected a democratic senator since 1932. there is one elected democratic official and its entire congressional delegation. but it s not just any red state, it is kansas which has been a national flash point over abortion rights since at least 1991 when antiabortion activists from all over the country descended on the state and blocked access to abortion
sure, kansas does sometimes elect moderate democratic governors but they haven t voted for a democrat for president since lyndon johnson. they haven t electioned a democratic senator since 1932. there s one elected democratic official in its entire congressional delegation. but it s not just any red state. it is kansas. which has been a national flash point over abortion rights since at least 1991, when anti-abortion activists from all over the country desended on the state and blocked access to abortion clinics for weeks, in what they called the summer of mercy. the abortion provider dr. george tiller was murdered by an anti-abortion activist in his church, in wichita, in 2009. the church by the way where he was murdered yesterday, it was a polling place. but the main reason that this resounding abortion rights victory in kansas is resonating