Biden hails ‘decisive victory’ against Kansas amendment as he signs order on abortion
President Joe Bide issued an executive order Wednesday to help women who cross state lines for abortion, a move that came after Kansas voters easily rejected a ballot question that would have remove abortion rights from the state constitution.
The White House and Democrats quickly seized on the Kansas vote, saying it shows voters would stand up to Republican-led attempts to ban or severely restrict abortion.
“In a decisive vote, in a decisive victory, voters made it clear that politicians should not interfere with the fundamental rights of women,” Biden said at the White House before signing the order.
Biden said Kansas voters “sent a powerful signal that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians and my administration has their back.”
The amendment, which was approved by the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature, would have overturned a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision said the the state constitution protects the right to an abortion. If the amendment had passed, state legislators would have been free to regulate or ban the procedure.
According to unofficial results, 59% of voters opposed the amendment and 41% were in favor.
The order directs Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to consider using Medicaid to aid women traveling out of state, ensure health care providers follow federal non-discrimination law and improve research on maternal health.
It’s the second order the president has signed on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. The first order directed HHS to protect access to contraception, medication abortion and emergency medical care.
Biden’s remarks were one in a series of White House comments on the Kansas vote. On Tuesday night after it became clear the amendment had failed, Biden in written statement called on Congress to pass federal legislation enshrining abortion access in federal law.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre kicked off her daily briefing by touting the Kansas result and tying it to the new executive order.
“We have seen a lot of momentum in the last 24 hours in our fight to restore Roe. Americans in Kansas turned out to challenge views that would move the country backwards,” she said.
“And they won,” she said, noting that Biden had predicted a backlash at the ballot to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, called Dobbs, to overturn the federal right to an abortion.
But while Biden and other Democrats – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – promoted the outcome in Kansas, some Republicans cautioned against reading too much into the results. Republicans are expected to gain seats in Congress in November, as Biden struggles with low approval ratings and high inflation.
“People who say Kansas is all for abortion are probably misreading Kansas but I have to see what that actually looks like,” Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said.
McClatchyDC’s David Lightman contributed reporting
This story was originally published August 3, 2022 at 2:24 PM.
