To think that the people of Kansas are heroes for women's rights

[Pipsquiggle]

They've voted in a referendum to keep abortion accessible.

A highly religious, conservative and Republican state has just to keep abortion. This gives me hope for the rest of the US.

BBC News - Kansas abortion vote: Major victory for pro-choice groups
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62402625

YANBU. Interesting to see 60% voted in favour, and the turn out was higher than usual.

It does seem to be an issue ordinary Americans feel quite strongly about.

It cheered me right up. Maybe the elected representatives will take note.

It also puts my faith back into referendums.

When it is explicitly clear on what you are voting on, what will be at stake if the vote is passed or not, it can be a useful tool to galvanise the voting population.

From all the polls that I have seen in the US re. abortion, this reflects reality. The silent majority (ie. not religious fundamentalists) want women to be able to have access to safe, legal terminations.

I hadn't heard this. It's fantastic news. I think Biden's strongly and openly pro-choice stance is making a big difference here too. Its like having your big brother behind you when the school bully is threatening to take your tuck money. It gives people (and states) the courage to stand up and say no.

Yes! I think a lot of the polling can be deceptive. Many American women consider themselves “pro-life” because they personally wouldn’t have an abortion (or don’t think they would), but do not think it should be illegal. So you get lots of polls showing people considering themselves “pro-life” and that gets talked about in the media as anti-choice support. But the two aren’t the same.

Even with a scam message going out telling then to vote yes they voted the correct way.
thinking of women not about the men sitting in power.

I am pro choice but i think referring to any way to vote in a democracy as the 'correct' way is a touch authoritarian!

I was so pleased to read these results yesterday. Well done to the good folk of Kansas for rejecting the religious right.

This just shows how our of touch the rabid pro-life groups are with the rest of the population.

“The rest of the USA” largely already has abortion laws that are more relaxed than anywhere in Europe. Some states even allow abortion at full term. Kansas already permitted abortions up to 22 weeks. It’s in the constitution of the state of Kansas. So it was always heavily protected.

Exactly! People jumping up and down about “rights” but ignoring the right we all have to vote as we wish, however much you may disagree with someone’s belief on the matter.

It made my day.

I saw two interesting comments on an American forum which may explain the way the vote went: 1) That Kansas has a sizeable University population that's liberal leaning and 2) It's seen as a conservative state because they don't like being told what they can and can't do (which is why they mostly reject the authoritarian left) but it equally applies to the right when presented with "do you want a choice, or no choice?"

I am pro choice but i think referring to any way to vote in a democracy as the 'correct' way is a touch authoritarian!

I'm going to fail Godwin's Law but sometimes it's instructive. The Nazis did very well in certain elections. Was a Nazi vote just as valid as a non-Nazi vote, just as correct? Even though it sought to remove those democratic rights from others.

There is a line in politics. And that line is when you are voting democratically, to remove democratic rights from others. After all, you could have a party which wanted to remove the vote from women. Would a vote for them be 'correct'?

I think removing healthcare from women is wrong, even if the vote to do it is 'democratic'.

I read "correct" as meaning the way they intended to vote, despite the efforts to lead them to vote the opposite way.

I was very heartened by the Kansas vote.

But the GOP plan will now be 'hmmmm, maybe that 'punting it back to the states' idea we had for abortion mightn't work out the way we'd hoped'. So they'll aim for a federal ban instead.

Nope.

Votes to take away the rights of others are incorrect and shouldn't even happen in a democratic nation. I live in a red Southern state and many here would vote for black people to be enslaved or gay people to be unable to marry or work.

That is categorically wrong.

That’s how I read it as well.

There was a concerted effort by some to confuse people into voting the wrong way - as in not the way they wanted to vote.

Ah that does make more sense!

Like Prop 8? I remember people (after that vote) complaining that they were confused and thought 'yes' meant 'yes, I agree that gay people should be allowed to marry'.

Well done, Kansas! Hope it's a beacon for the future.

Exactly that.

Those that wanted to protect abortion rights had to vote No, some were trying to confuse it so that people voted Yes thinking they were voting “Yes for abortion rights”.

Yes, there were concerns that people would think 'yes' was to keep the abortion laws as they are/for abortion access and 'no' was against abortion access, when it was yes to change the law to remove abortion access and no to keep it as it is.

Some anti-abortion people were pushing that misunderstanding hoping pro-choicers would vote incorrectly/against how they actually wished.

There are still concerns in Kansas (and many places) when it comes to this November's elections, but this has been a breath of fresh air with everything else going on.

Very common form of election fraud in our current era is to send out scam messages with false instructions for voting: wrong date, wrong place, wrong "guidance" for filling in form (Yes for No, or something which invalidates the ballot paper).

We need to be aware of it in every ballot.

Really easy with social media targetting (esp Facebook "Universes" of people grouped according to likely interests/values) to make sure your "Yes for No" message only goes to folks likely to vote for the other team – you wouldn't want to confuse your own voters as well!