OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — The Republican candidate for governor in Kansas mentioned Thursday that he is not going to push for tighter abortion restrictions if he’s elected, citing voters’ overwhelming rejection of an amendment that might have eliminated the suitable to abortion from the state’s structure.
Legal professional Common Derek Schmidt, who’s in search of to oust Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, mentioned the Aug. 2 vote by which voters rejected the proposed modification by a 41% to 59% margin, “must be revered going ahead.”
Throughout a marketing campaign look in Overland Park, Schmidt mentioned if he turns into governor, he wouldn’t push the Kansas Legislature to advance an identical modification however would as a substitute focus on upholding present state restrictions on abortion, The Kansas Metropolis Star reported.
“I believe Kansans, Kansas voters, went to the polls. They decided,” Schmidt mentioned.
Kelly opposed the constitutional modification and informed supporters in an e mail final month that she “all the time maintained {that a} girl’s reproductive healthcare selections must be between her and her doctor.”
“I believe that the main focus going ahead for the state must be on defending these legal guidelines already on the books and that’s the place my priorities can be,” Schmidt mentioned.
The result of the vote was confirmed after a hand recount in nine counties that was requested by two anti-abortion activists. Fewer than 100 votes modified within the 9 counties through the recount.
The vote drew intense curiosity throughout the nation as a result of it was the primary state referendum on abortion for the reason that U.S. Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
Kansas limits abortions to after 22 weeks of being pregnant and requires sufferers to endure an ultrasound and obtain state-written supplies earlier than receiving an abortion. Parental consent is required for minors and the state well being division regulates abortion clinics.
Schmidt additionally used the marketing campaign occasion Thursday to reiterate his assist for a ban on transgender athletes competing in ladies’s and women’ sports activities in Okay-12 and schools. He mentioned if he turns into governor, he would push the Legislature to go a legislation implementing the ban inside the first 100 hundred days of his taking workplace.
Lawmakers have handed the ban twice however Kelly vetoed the measure each instances. The Kansas Senate voted to override Kelly’s second veto however the override try failed within the Home by three votes.
Schmidt was joined on the marketing campaign occasion by Riley Gaines, a former College of Kentucky swimmer who has criticized the NCAA’s determination to permit Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer for the College of Pennsylvania, to compete in Division I ladies’s swimming occasions.
Schmidt mentioned Kelly’s opposition to a ban on transgender athletes in ladies and women’ sports activities is “an excessive view that’s not shared by most Kansans.”
Kelly marketing campaign spokesperson Lauren Fitzgerald mentioned in a press release that the governor “is aware of divisive insurance policies are unhealthy for our youngsters, households and enterprise group.”
