She said that the level of government overreach has made people in Kansas very upset. It is frightening to think that it is up to the government and what they think is best for you and your loved one.
The turnout for the primary was higher than usual, and in some places it was closer to a presidential election than usual. The amendment was rejected by 59 percent of the voters.
The number of mail-in ballots was more than doubled, and the in-person early vote was more than 250 percent higher than last year, when both Democrats and Republicans were running for governor.
In the eastern part of the state, the no campaign came in several points ahead of the president in 2020.
At the abortion rights group's watch party in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, supporters cheered, cried, jumped and hugged each other as new waves of votes were counted in their favor. The teens with purple hair mingled with the older men and women in suits. A woman cradles a doll of Ginsburg as she watches the results.
"Abortion isn't a partisan issue - that's a trap people fall into." Most Americans and Kansans don't think like that about the issue.
The defeat of the Kansas referendum was seen by abortion rights groups as a template for future efforts in cities and states across the country. The vote countered the idea that the abortion issue is a bigger motivator for conservative voters and may signal a warning to Republican lawmakers across the country.
Mini Timmaraju said in a statement that reproductive freedom is a winning issue. The voters have spoken and they will turn out to oppose attempts to restrict reproductive freedom.
The decision means that abortion clinics in the state can still provide the procedure to patients from other states that have banned it, as well as Kansans. The anti- abortion campaign warned that the state would become an abortion destination if the amendment failed.
The decision was called a "temporary setback" by Value Them Both.
They said in a statement that their fight to value women and babies is still going strong. We will return.
The referendum result shocked the state because the pro-amendment campaign had some advantages going into Tuesday.
The Kansas legislature decided to schedule the vote for the primary instead of the general election because the state voted twice for Donald Trump. In August, Republicans have more competitive primaries than Democrats in Kansas, which leads to lower turnout. College students who are more progressive are out for the summer.
Student activists working to defeat the amendment said they were motivated by an underhanded attempt to suppress their votes.
"It was very intentional, and I think young people have taken note of that and have realized that there are political structures in place to put us down." Everyone has been involved, even friends who haven't been involved politically before, when I asked if they would come canvass this weekend.
The amendment made a big difference in the primary election. Hundreds of volunteers from all over the country descended on the state to help. Both sides raised and spent millions of dollars on ads, mailers, phone banking and other outreach, much of it from the Catholic Church.
While the state served as a proxy for the groups fighting over abortion rights nationally, the campaigns had a distinctly Kansas flavor.
Outside the state capital in Topeka on Saturday, people protesting against the amendment waved posters with the state motto "Ad astra per aspera" and speakers invoked the state motto " to the stars through adversity" The businesses down the street showed a picture of a woman urging people to vote no.
Tension and confusion prevailed in the final days before the vote.
There were some lawn signs that had no spray painted over them. The main funders of the anti-abortion campaign have been vandalized.
On Saturday, a group of anti-abortion advocates marched up and down the sidewalks of Lawrence yelling "Don't kill babies"
On Sunday, an 18-year-old anti-abortion canvasser who came from Texas to volunteer with the group Students for Life said she was attacked by a resident while knocking on doors. She posted a video that doesn't show the incident itself, but shows the resident yelling and giving her the finger after she filed a police report.
Several residents contacted the state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday to alert them that they had received a message from an unknown number suggesting that a "yes" vote would protect abortion access.
The messages said that women in Kansas were losing their reproductive rights. Women will have a choice if they vote yes on the amendment.
The former governor said that she was not surprised by the tactic.
The voters of Kansas have been lied to by the anti-choice movement for a long time. The voters of Kansas will protect their rights despite this desperation.
The debate pits family members against each other, according to many voters.
David Schaffer said that the sign in his yard was his daughter's and that he did not agree with it.
She is free to do what she pleases. He said she is a grown up. I don't get no say if we turn it over to the legislature. That is what this is doing
One of his neighbors told POLITICO that her "Vote Yes" was recently stolen from her front yard and she suspected her son was trying to convince her to vote no.
They are going to take all abortion away, he said. She said that she told him that he needed to do his research.
The amendment was seen as a bridge too far by voters.
While younger voters in the state lean more progressive, the defeat of the proposal was also fueled by older Kansans who remember life before abortion.
She shared that she had a baby when she was 17 years old after being raped when canvassers with Kansans for Constitutional Freedom came to her door.
I don't know if I would have had an abortion because it was against the law. She said it was very difficult. We are going to be left back in the dark ages if they restrict all abortions again.
There were signs that voters' views on abortion were more nuanced than they thought. According to a July poll, a third of voters favored no restrictions on abortion, while only 9 percent preferred a total ban. Over 50 percent of Kansans agreed with the statement that the Kansas government should not place any regulations on the circumstances under which women can get abortions.
The sole Democrat in the state's congressional delegation, Sharice Davids, said people make a lot of assumptions about the state. People here care about their community and about being treated fairly.
The article states that abortions are legal in some conservative states.
An earlier version of the report had a spelling mistake.
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