We’ve had a few days to gloat, to pat ourselves and each other on the back, to sigh in relief. We kept the guarantee of abortion rights in the Kansas constitution. We made national news. We astounded everyone, except ourselves. And maybe ourselves, too. It was supposed to be too close to call, but we had almost 2/3 of the vote. Well done, us!
So abortion rights are safe now in Kansas, right?
Uh, not so fast, Kansas. The reason that wording was still in the constitution was because of our state Supreme Court. Six justices, all except Caleb Stegall, stood up for Kansans in the same way that six justices on SCOTUS undermined Americans. Unlike SCOTUS, though, the Kansas justices, once appointed, are not there for life. They must go to the voters periodically for approval.
“Should this justice be retained?” shows up on ballots. And for six of our seven justices, that question will be above their names in November. Five of those six, along with the one not up for voter approval, were the ones who decided the wording guaranteeing abortion freedom stayed in the constitution.
The people determined to remove the right to abortion in Kansas are already organizing for this vote. I’ve seen the messages. The Rethuglicans will be coming together before November to get these five off of the court, to be replaced by, they hope, people appointed by a new Republican governor. Because, of course, they’re after Gov. Laura Kelly, too.
I’ll make it easy for you. You don’t have to remember all five names. Just, when you see the bolded question on the ballot, mark “YES” for all except Caleb Stegall. Please don’t skip this part of the ballot. Republicans are going to vote No for five; we need to vote no only for the one and yes for the rest.
Closer to the November election, I’ll post my sample ballot, and I’ll tell you how to find yours in Kansas. We can answer any questions then, so we aren’t caught off guard in the voting booth.
We out-organized them once. We can do it again. Do it for Dr. George Tiller. Do it for the people of Kansas.
