Kansas voters reject amendment removing abortion protections

The Associated Press called the race with about 86% of the vote counted. The No vote led with 62% to 38% for Yes.

The amendment would have allowed the state’s legislature to ban or impose tighter restrictions on the procedure…

The Kansas primary, normally a sleepy affair, became the focus of intense campaigning, with supporters and opponents of the amendment each spending millions and making emotional appeals to voters through television ads, billboards and door-knocking efforts.

Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which supports abortion rights and opposed the amendment, has tried to paint abortion restrictions as a government mandate that interferes with private medical decisions.

The Value Them Both Coalition, which opposes abortion and supported the constitutional amendment, ran ads warning that, if the amendment fails, Kansas could become an abortion haven as many of the state’s neighbors have banned most abortions.