Those who need access to abortions, but who live in states with these restrictions, are faced with the harsh reality of being forced to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to a state that provides this vital health care procedure.
Three days after the Kansas vote, the Indiana state legislature passed a bill outlawing abortion except in very narrow cases of rape, incest, lethal fetal anomaly or when the procedure is warranted to prevent severe health risks or death. Prior to this vote, a 10-year-old pregnant rape victim was recently forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana to have an abortion due to Ohio’s horrific abortion restrictions.
How was this major victory won in Kansas? Millions of dollars were raised in a grassroots effort to defeat this reactionary referendum. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom was a major backer and organized volunteers to go door to door, in both urban and rural areas, to reach out to voters no matter their political affiliation — Democrat, Republican or independent. This electoral outcome reflects the view of the majority of people in the U.S. who support the right to abortion.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju stated: “At a time when reproductive freedom is under unprecedented threat across the country, Kansans said loud and clear at the ballot box, ‘We’ve had enough.’ In the heartland of the United States, protecting abortion access is galvanizing voters like never before.” (Washington Post, Aug. 3)
The main lesson learned from the Kansas vote is not the form of the struggle, the electoral arena. It was the essence of the struggle to organize a mass mobilization to speak in one united voice and beat back political reaction — to help safeguard a life-and-death health care service for the multigender, multinational working class.
Just as the struggle historically won Roe v. Wade in the streets, the Kansas victory will be an important catalyst to continue the struggle beyond the outcome of the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
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