Kelly warns amendment will invite new wave of abortion restrictions

Gov. Laura Kelly says she is voting against an amendment that would change the Kansas Constitution to say there is no right to abortion. If the amendment passes, she expects lawmakers to immediately pass severe restrictions.

By

State News

July 25, 2022 - 2:52 PM

TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly warned passage of an amendment removing the right to abortion from the Kansas Constitution would prompt an emboldened Republican-led Legislature to pass new restraints on the right of women to control their reproductive health.

“The amendment is written in such a way that the proponents of the amendment want to suggest that this would just leave things as they are in Kansas. But that’s not true,” Kelly said during the Kansas Reflector podcast. “What would happen if that amendment would pass is that the Legislature would immediately come back with some very severe restrictions on a woman’s ability to control her own fate.”

Kelly said she was voting against the amendment because it was essential to reinforce the right of women to maintain bodily autonomy. She expected the statewide vote to be “very close.” It follows the June reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that affirmed nationwide the right to abortion.

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