Millions pour into Kansas' abortion fight, with constitutional amendment vote looming large

Millions of dollars have poured in on both sides of a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution, with the measure attracting financial support and attention from across the United States.

Reports, filed Monday with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, provide the last financial snapshot before the Aug. 2 primary and give a window into the proliferation of television ads that have soared in recent weeks.

Underscoring the spike in interest in recent months, the number of groups involved in the amendment has more than tripled, with 34 organizations filings reports with the Ethics Commission.

Kansas is the first state nationally where voters will weigh in on the abortion issue since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision protecting abortion rights nationally.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in a 2019 decision that the state constitution confers the right to an abortion, striking down a first-in-the-nation measure to ban dilation and evacuation procedures, a common second trimester abortion practice.

A "no" vote would maintain the status quo, with abortion legal and available at four Kansas clinics. A "yes" vote would give the Legislature the ability to pass new regulations and for groups to seek the enforcement of several restrictions halted by the courts.

More: As Roe v. Wade decision looms, Kansas abortion amendment opponents try to gain traction

Backers, opponents of Kansas abortion amendment spend over $6 million

Supporters of the constitutional amendment spent $6.7 million on campaign activities, slightly outspending opponents, who spent $6.4 million.

Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, the largest group opposing the amendment, raised the most money, taking in $6.5 million in the past seven months. The group spent $5.8 million of that, primarily on television and digital advertising, as well as direct mail services.

Over $1.3 million of that came from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a group outside observers have called a "dark money" organization that routinely gives to left-leaning candidates and causes.

More: Roe v. Wade was overturned. How does Kansas abortion change after Supreme Court ruling?

An additional $850,000 came from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and another $1 million was donated by a Tulsa philanthropist. Over $488,000 came from Kansas grassroots donors, the group reported.

Meanwhile, the principle group supporting the amendment, the Value Them Both Association, took in nearly $4.7 million and spent over $5.4 million, including over $2.7 million in advertising expenditures.

The organization got the bulk of its funding from religious groups, with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas giving $2.45 million, over half of the group's total fundraising.

The Catholic Diocese of Wichita gave an additional $551,000, the Kansas Catholic Conference gave $275,000 and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina gave $100,000.

In addition to a $325,000 donation to the Value Them Both Association, Kansans for Life also spent $853,361 on their own, primarily on direct mail and media buys.

More: Abortion amendment groups see rise of intimidation and theft, including vandalized church

Level of spending unprecedented for ballot measure in Kansas

The level of engagement by churches is unprecedented, said Bob Beatty, professor of political science at Washburn University, in large part because religious groups can't normally directly spend in campaigns.

Internal Revenue Service regulations bar churches from engaging in "any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office." But spending on ballot initiatives, however, is allowable.

More: SCOTUS overturning Roe v. Wade renews pressure on Kansas same-sex marriage ban, sodomy law

Unlike other states, where ballot measures are a routine part of their political climate, Kansas has never seen this level of spending on a constitutional amendment, Beatty said.

The 2005 constitutional amendment making it unconstitutional to perform same-sex marriage also drew significant interest, he added, but the mobilization on both sides sent the Dobbs decision has vaulted spending into a new stratosphere.

"There's no point in really comparing it to anything else," Beatty said.

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: Kansas abortion amendment draws millions in spending from groups