On Tuesday, voters in the US state of Kansas voted to reject an amendment that would have confirmed that there is no right to abortion in the state constitution. The amendment was defeated with 58 percent voting “No” and 41 percent voting “Yes”.
Pro-abortion supporters wasted no time in declaring their win as proof that the Supreme Court decision in overturning Roe v Wade was out of step with public opinion across America, with the Politico news outlet describing the outcome as a “political earthquake”.
While the result is undoubtedly disappointing from a pro-life standpoint, it is not altogether surprising. Since the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs was handed down in June, there has been a full-on tsunami of misinformation and fearmongering in the US media about the impact of the decision, with commentators and news organisations repeating the lie that the lives of pregnant women are now in danger and that treatments for ectopic pregnancies and other life-threatening conditions would likely be denied in states where restrictions on abortion provision are introduced.
Voters in Kansas went to the polls on Tuesday with too many questions unanswered about what would happen in the event of the amendment being passed. Pro-life campaigners in the US are understandably exhilarated by the overturning Roe v Wade after an almost 50 year battle. That momentous victory still stands and is going to result in countless unborn lives being saved from certain death in the coming years.
The Kansas result from earlier this week however is a sobering lesson that the pro-life side in the US needs to pick its battles wisely. If they are going to ask voters to side with them on key amendments, they need to be fully prepared to deal with the onslaught of misinformation that voters will inevitably have to contend with from pro-abortion sources, featuring multi-million dollar campaigns backed by the likes of George Soros and his friends.
