The results of an Aug. 2 vote in Kansas will reach far beyond the borders of the Sunflower State.
"Value Them Both" is a proposed amendment to the Kansas state constitution that would make clear there is no inherent "right" to abortion in the state.
The amendment would add the following statement to the constitution:
"Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion.
"To the extent permitted by the constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother."
This is the first abortion-related referendum since Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) was overturned last month, and Kansas is the first of several states that will consider ballot amendments on abortion.
State constitutions are one of the big battlegrounds in the post-Roe fight to end abortion.
More than $10 million has been donated to groups working in support of or opposition to Value Them Both, but the main group opposing the amendment has collected $2 million more than Value Them Both.
That demonstrates how important the issue is to the left. Those raising funds to defeat the amendment include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Sen. Warren or the rest of the left don't seem to care much about Kansas, and they just don’t want to lose this first significant vote.
Neither do we.
Some background on Value Them Both:
In 2015, this writer was with then-Gov. Sam Brownback when he signed a law to protect babies from the brutality of dismemberment abortions, the most common second-trimester procedure.
Abortion is legal through 22 weeks in Kansas, so that law would have saved lives.
Of course, it was challenged by abortion profiteers Hebert Hodes and Traci Nauser, a father and daughter abortion-providing team.
The issue made it to the Kansas Supreme Court, which in 2019 divined a "natural right" to abortion in the state constitution --- one that, unsurprisingly, nobody had discovered before!
The ruling not only squelched the 2015 law but also tied legislators’ hands, making them unable to pass laws to protect these babies.
Passing the Value them Both amendment doesn’t ban abortion or create any new law in Kansas
But if the amendment fails, Kansas’ various pro-life provisions will be done away with as unconstitutional, abortion will be permitted until birth, clinics will no longer be regulated, parents will no longer be given the right to be informed about a minor daughter’s abortion, Kansans will be forced to pay for abortions, their state will become a destination for abortion by people in nearby states where abortion is more restricted, and the numbers of abortions in Kansas will likely rise 1000%.
The rationale, furthermore, by which a state Constitution is deemed to confer a right to abortion when the word is mentioned nowhere in the text has been addressed thoroughly in the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision from the high court.
What distinguishes legitimate privacy, liberty, and autonomy rights from abortion is that only abortion involves the purposeful ending of a life.
And that distinction was not just made by Dobbs; it was made by Roe v. Wade itself.
The other key theme from Dobbs, of course, that should inform the Kansas effort, is that courts should not take legislative decision-making away from the people.
What the Supreme Court restored to citizens nationwide should not be taken away from Kansans by their Supreme Court.
Voting in Kansas is already underway and concludes on primary election day, Aug. 2.
Let’s do all we can to help ensure a Yes vote on the Value them Both amendment.
Fr. Frank Pavone is one of the most prominent anti-abortion leaders globally. Read Fr. Frank Pavone Reports — More Here.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.