Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, talked to Cheddar News about Tuesday’s vote that keeps abortion protections in red state Kansas, and why it is so significant. “They not only maintain abortion access for Kansans but allow Kansas to remain an essential access point for the entirety of the Midwest and the Deep South,” McGuire said. “We know people from Texas are coming to Kansas, people from Oklahoma are coming to Kansas, and that care will remain for people who need it.”


Cheddar's News Wrap

Red State Kansas Overwhelmingly Votes to Protect Abortion Access

Welcome back Cheddars News round today is Wednesday august 3rd 2022. I'm headed over in new york city, Thank you so much for joining us abortion rights advocates nabbed a major victory last night with Kansas voters rejecting a constitutional amendment that would have allowed abortion restrictions in the traditionally very red state. Kansas is the first state to vote on a boat Russian right since the Supreme Court overturned roe v wade joining me now to discuss is Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of urge unite for reproductive and gender equity. Welcome to the show, Kimberly. I'm so glad you're on here to discuss this first. What do we need to know about this anti abortion amendment that was so overwhelmingly rejected by Kansas voters. Thank you so much for having me. So this ballot initiative would have stripped from Kansas the constitutional right now protected by the state constitution to access abortion care. And because the Supreme Court has removed all federal protection for abortion access, that stay level protection is the only thing keeping clinics open in Kansas. So this and this initiative would have paved the way for full abortion ban, which we expect would have led to the full loss of abortion access in the state of Kansas. So what does this vote tell us? Why is it so significant here Kimberly? You know, the state of Kansas is incredibly important. If you look at a map, it's just about smack in the middle of the country and it is surrounded by states where abortion clinics are closing every single day. And so why Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejecting this proposal. They not only maintain abortion access for kansans, but allow Kansas to remain an essential access point for the entirety of the midwest and the deep South, we know people from texas are coming to Kansas, people from Oklahoma are coming to Kansas and that care will remain for people who need it and you know this as well as I do Kimberly, this result has defied some of the polling and some of just the conventional wisdom that a lot of people were expecting. What was your reaction to this news? Were you surprised at all? You know? Um I was thrilled, but I won't say that I was, I was necessarily surprised we worked in Kansas for over a decade. And what we know is that young people across the state and kansans in general want abortion to be legal, accessible and protected. So, I think sometimes the mythology of texas of Kansas, I'm sorry, the red State sort of gets ahead of the reality and the reality is people across the, across the state and across party lines believe that this is important. Health care that really shouldn't be interfered with voter turnout was much higher than expected. We typically don't see that for a midterm election. Do you think that this issue is energizing voters to come out and cast their ballot. You know, urge was really proud to be engaging young people across this state. We reached out to more than 45,000 voters and we heard anger, frustration, outrage, people are really mad that abortion bans are popping up all over the country. They want to speak out and defend abortion access. And what we saw in Kansas yesterday is but a taste of what's to come. So what is next for Kansas when it comes to anti abortion groups? You know, the reality is that we have been fighting for abortion access in Kansas for a long time and if the other side wants to have this fight again, we'll be glad to have it and we'll beat them again. Let's talk about the next battleground. What can you expect from other states that will have abortion on their ballots A lot to watch in the coming months. So in November, we see a positive ballot initiative in Michigan that would actually protect access to abortion folks are working hard to get that supported by voters. Unfortunately, in Kentucky, we see a very similar provisions to what we just saw in Kansas. So folks are working hard to organize against that and then in 2024, so a little ways off, But not that far, we expect to see a ballot initiative in Iowa. So at this point, the fight for abortion access is a state by state fight and we have got to organize in every state in order to defend this essential care. I'm glad you mentioned those states, I also want to ask you about Michigan because a judge blocked enforcement of a 1931 Michigan ban on abortion. What does this mean for those in that state? You know, what's really exciting about that ruling is it shows that there are judges that are not in lockstep with the Supreme Court's extreme anti abortion agenda. And so we are seeing judges that are willing to defend abortion rights that happened in michigan and we're hoping to see it elsewhere. Who will be most impacted by these abortion decisions? What does your organization do to help these people Kimberly? Absolutely. So we mobilize and work with young people in particular, young people of color, young queer and trans people and young people who are struggling to make ends meet? And these are the very people who are most impacted by abortion bands, who may not be able to afford to leave their state to access care and who may even struggle to get access to contraception in the first place. And so these are the very communities that were also organizing with to not only speak out about their experiences, but actually fight back and in this case to win. I want to go back to something you said about Iowa because we're seeing the first legal action by the D. O. J. They're challenging a state trigger law since the Supreme Court overturned roe what's going on here? Can you explain it to us? You know, I'm really excited to to say that today we saw some real muscle coming from the biden administration on protecting abortion access. This action by the doj is but one piece of what is an expanding set of actions, you know, really what is amounting to a full government response to defend abortion access wherever we can. So we're excited to see it. And we look forward to even more action from the administration Kimberly. And as McGuire, executive director of urge unite for reproductive and gender equity, we really appreciate the insight and context here. Thank you so much Kimberly.