Focus on the finish line, Kansas and Missouri. Foes of abortion rights will never stop

Every runner knows that the race isn’t over until you cross the finish line. Make no mistake: We are in a race to preserve women’s reproductive freedom, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Failure will endanger women’s health and threaten the autonomy of every woman for years to come. Fortunately, Kansas is off to an impressive start. The state’s voters resoundingly defeated a ballot amendment in August that would have given conservative state legislators the opportunity to outlaw abortion in the state.

Leading up to the primary, Kansas saw a spike in voter registration, 70% of whom were women. Then, nearly 1 million Kansans turned out to vote on the anti-abortion amendment in the primary election, almost double the turnout from the 2018 primary.

The amendment failed in a 60/40 split, which put the wind at our back in Kansas and across the country.

The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered an abortion rights amendment be added to its midterm election ballot after nearly 750,000 signatures were collected requesting a statewide vote. And the South Carolina Senate failed to pass a near-total abortion ban despite every indication before the Kansas vote that it would pass easily.

But we shouldn’t be fooled. Instead, it is time to pick up our pace. Republicans have vowed to pass a federal abortion ban if they gain a filibuster-proof advantage in the U.S. Senate and a majority in the U.S. House in 2022. Recently, Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks. The bill would not make any difference to Missouri’s already extreme abortion restrictions, but it would override the law in Kansas, where the procedure is allowed until 22 weeks.

Further, former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has been urging abortion opponents to keep up the fight after the failure of the anti-abortion rights amendment by taking an incremental approach to introducing new restrictions in Kansas.

With less than 60 days to the midterm election, the finish line is just in front of us, and we can win. As evident in Kansas’ primary, most Americans believe reproductive freedom is an important enough issue to take the time and effort to register to vote and then show up at polls.

That’s not to say that pro-choice candidates come this Nov. 8 are a shoo-in. Far from it. But it does appear that when women show up to vote, Democrats have a better chance of winning, even in moderately red states like Kansas and deep red states like Missouri.

The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision is a reminder of what is really at stake if we don’t cross the finish line. As late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her 1993 confirmation hearing: “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.”

Now is the time in this race to dig deep. Ensure you are registered to vote. Research candidates’ views about abortion, even in down-ballot races such as your state’s secretary of state and attorney general races. Plan how you will cast your ballot, either by mail or at your assigned polling place. And then vote.

On Nov. 8, let’s cross the finish line together and win this race.

This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 7:00 AM.