Abortion-rights protesters in Kansas view Roe v. Wade fall as call to action for Aug. 2 ballot
Sue McKenna is old enough to remember a world before Roe v. Wade.
At the age of 19, she became pregnant. Initially, she was unworried. The father, she thought, was the man she loved.
Then she met his wife.
The initial plan was for McKenna to cross the border to Mexico, where she could have an abortion. Unable to come up with the bus fare, she wound up having the baby and putting it up for adoption.
Years later, the story had a happy ending — she reconnected with her son and the two talk.
But McKenna, now in her 70s, is back to witnessing an America where the right to an abortion is uncertain. In Kansas, it remains — for now.
"If we can't control our own bodies, we aren't free," McKenna said.
Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and gave states a pathway to ban abortion, several hundred protesters descended on the Statehouse on Friday evening to urge Kansans to hold the line in their own state.
More: Roe v. Wade was overturned. How does Kansas abortion change after the Supreme Court ruling?
Rally-goers shared personal stories of getting abortions as teenagers, their survival of sexual abuse and experience with ectopic pregnancies.
Rather than despondence, protesters urged each other to vote and get others to register and to the polls.
Abortion isn't banned in the state after a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling found the state constitution protects the right to an abortion and restrictions on the practice should be placed under greater legal scrutiny.
But Kansas is just weeks away from being the first state in the country where voters will weigh in on abortion after the Dobbs ruling, with a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the Aug. 2 ballot to effectively neutralize the state high court decision.
More: Kansas voters first to weigh in on abortion post-Roe v. Wade as procedure remains legal
'Fighting for our own future generations'
Some attendees took a creative approach to encouraging attendees to oppose the amendment. Rija Nazir is a lead organizer for Vote Neigh, a cowboy-themed group attempting to organize opposition in 10-gallon hats.
"We try to be very uplifting because this is a very depressing topic when it comes to these laws that are happening," Nazir said.
That did not apply, however, to her words for the U.S. Supreme Court majority that ushered in the ruling.
"Pretty hot out here, isn't it?" she said of the balmy 95-degree day. "Not hotter than where these justices are going."
Jolie Lippitt said she was initially concerned about coming to the protest for her own safety.
But she ultimately decided to show up, pointing to the future for her daughter.
"We were grounded in fighting for our own future generations," Lippitt said of her Pottawatomi ancestors. "When I think of my own fear and Skye's future and my own future and the future of girls ... I'm going to stand up every time."
More: What does overturning Roe mean? A breakdown of the Supreme Court's abortion ruling.
'Basic things that most Kansans agree with'
The proposed amendment wouldn't explicitly ban abortion in Kansas. Rather, it would give legislators the option to pursue further restrictions.
Proponents of the constitutional amendment have argued their focus isn't on a ban but rather on bringing back restrictions tossed out by the Kansas Supreme Court, most notably a ban on a common second trimester abortion procedure that was at issue in 2019.
"Those are just basic things that most Kansans agree with," Brittany Jones, director of policy and engagement for Kansas Family Voice, said in an interview Friday. "And those are the options. And so I think, yes, it (rhetoric about a proposed ban) is a huge distraction."
But bans have been introduced in the Legislature previously. And protesters don't buy they won't be looked at again, fearing that, in less than a year, their state could be added to the list of places where reproductive rights have been limited.
"Without these constitutional protections, it's all out there," said Alexis Simmons, a spokesperson for Kansas House Democrats who helped organize the protest.
More: What the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means: States, businesses, politicians set positions
Rights advocates vow to redouble efforts if abortion is banned
Patty Dick came to the protest with her wife, Cara Christianson. She said she didn't take anti-abortion groups at face value and feared the next step would be rolling back protections that Kansas women had fought and won years earlier.
She herself attended protests to push for Title IX, the landmark law governing gender equality in education, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
When asked about what it felt like to be back out on the picket lines, Dick was blunt.
"It sucks," she said.
If the amendment passes and abortion is restricted in the state, McKenna, the septuagenarian activist, predicted to the return of the Janes, an underground group that facilitated abortions when they remained illegal pre-Roe.
And, she said, she would be one of the first ones to sign up.
"I will do that," McKenna said. "I'm at an age where I am tired and would like to sit and read, but I won't. I'll help women get the help they need."
Andrew Bahl is a senior statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at abahl@gannett.com or by phone at 443-979-6100.``
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka abortion-rights advocates protest after Roe v. Wade overturned
