Women for Kansas is proud that Kansans rejected the August 2022 Constitutional Amendment. Citizenship for women and reproductive people requires control over our fertility. To pursue our happiness and exercise our freedom, our bodies cannot be regulated more than firearms.

Abortion is already heavily regulated in Kansas. Fertility is very complex, involving a wide range of medical and personal decisions about contraception, abortion, treatment for miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, in-vitro fertilization, and much, much more. Kansans and their medical providers are best equipped to make reproductive healthcare decisions that vary widely and involve many complicating factors. Defeat of this amendment protects Kansans and the practice of medicine in our state.

Make no mistake, reproductive rights are also on the ballot in November. Every Kansas House seat is up for re-election. It is imperative that we elect State Representatives and Senators who share our views on these issues. It was the Legislature that passed the amendment in the first place and sent it to voters on August 2. Contact your State Representatives and Senators immediately and repeatedly over the coming months and years to voice your views on these issues. And vote in November!

We also acknowledge that many Kansans oppose abortion and are dismayed by the amendment’s defeat. Yet, the law as it stands still protects their right to refuse abortion or other healthcare they reject. 

Together, Kansans can continue to take action to value children and families. In this context, Women for Kansas calls on the Kansas State Legislature to do the following:

• Expand Medicaid. (www.expandkancare.com)
• Increase funding for education at all levels, pre-K through higher education.
• Enact Kansas Action for Children’s “Kansas Children’s Agenda.” (www.kac.org/kansas_children_s_agenda)
• Expand food assistance and other supports to struggling families. (www.kcur.org/news/2022-07-27/ku-research-suggests-more-food-assistance-for-families-can-keep-kids-out-of-foster-care)
• Centralize and decrease the privatization of foster care in Kansas to ensure children in need find stable and safe mental and physical support. (www.kcur.org/news/2022-06-02/kansas-foster-children-are-still-sleeping-in-offices-years-after-promises-that-would-end)
• End passage of bills that target and harm children, such as anti-trans and other anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. (kansasreflector.com/2022/04/25/anti-trans-legislation-in-kansas-hurts-lgbtq-youths-but-we-can-all-do-something-about-it/)

Women for Kansas continues to support protecting the freedom of every Kansan to choose if, when, and with whom they start or grow a family. We will continue to use representative government processes to ensure we are heard by those who represent us.