Why are supporters of Kansas abortion amendment so afraid of letting voters weigh in?

Abortion opponents say Kansas is firmly pro-life. So why are they so intent on dodging the public will?

As the Kansas Legislature restarts last year’s effort to amend the state constitution to allow regulating abortion, amendment supporters again want to have the public vote on it during a low-turnout primary, this time in August 2022.

It’s that curious insistence on avoiding a big November election turnout that derailed the amendment last year — when four Republican House members objected to the bill largely because of the attempt to sneak it through an August primary in the distracted days of summer.

The ploy is more likely to succeed this year, though, because the four objecting House members are gone, and voters sent more conservatives to the Legislature.

“The elections were, I think, a great affirmation of how Kansans feel about the need to regulate the abortion industry,” says Jeanne Gawdun, Kansans For Life director of government affairs. “The will of the people is that they do not want an unregulated, unlimited abortion industry — that reasonable regulations are needed.”

As evidence, Kansans For Life touts a 2019 Gallup Poll saying 74% of Americans support limitations on abortion, and the organization argues that, “Kansas trends more pro-life than the nation as a whole.”

If all this is true, then why so conspicuously and consciously avoid as many voters as possible by putting the question on a sleepy August ballot?

One reason, Gawdun says, is to avoid the “noise” of a November election and its many state and federal races: “August helps the voters to be able to concentrate on this very critical issue.” Another reason, she says, is that an August election provides the opportunity to start saving lives sooner with the amendment.

The latter argument is a bit specious, since all the amendment would do is affirm the Legislature’s power to pass laws regulating abortion. It’s a power that was swept into uncertainty by a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in 2019 that the right to abortion is implicit in the state constitution. But as to Gawdun’s argument on urgency, no changes in the law will occur in the short span between August and November 2022.

Abortion opponents fear the court’s ruling could result in existing regulations being struck down and future ones being forestalled. So far, none of the state’s abortion laws has been altered by the ruling, though lawsuits challening their constitutionality are pending.

Rachel Sweet, regional director of public policy and organizing at Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, says the organization believes individual rights such as abortion shouldn’t be up for a public vote in the first place. But she claims the aim of amendment supporters is clearly to avoid voters’ judgment in a November election.

“Let’s be clear,” Sweet said in a statement to The Star. “The politicians and organizations behind this amendment have clearly said that they believe all abortions should be banned and illegal, no matter what. Banning all abortion is not a reasonable restriction of abortion. The proponents know their position is unpopular and out of step with most Kansans, which is why they are pushing for this ballot placement.”

Kansas House and Senate committees were scheduled to receive testimony on the amendment in back-to-back hearings beginning at 9 a.m. Friday.

The Star Editorial Board has endorsed at least having a public vote on the constitutional amendment, but strongly objects to the supporters’ transparent attempt to evade voters with an August primary vote.

Gawdun nonetheless suggests that every registered voter can weigh in on an August ballot. Of course they can. That’s not the issue. Everyone knows November elections are boundlessly more prominent and participated in. Something of this stature warrants a verdict from as many voters as possible.

If access to abortion is as critical an issue as Gawdun argues — and it is indeed one of the most consequential acts the Legislature will consider this session — then it makes no sense to seek out the fewest voters possible when it comes time for the public to decide.

Give us the vote, lawmakers. But make it a November one.

Do you trust voters or not?