Kansas voted for abortion rights, but Republicans in Congress eye national restrictions

Congress on Tuesday fanned the flames of the abortion debate in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, after Republican lawmakers introduced bills in the House and Senate to implement federal abortion restrictions that would potentially override a recent vote by Kansans to protect abortion rights.

The bills — one sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and one sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey — would ban abortion after 15 weeks, except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother.

The bills would not override more restrictive legislation passed by conservative lawmakers in states like Missouri, where abortion is banned except in medical emergencies. But would override more lenient laws in other states, including in Kansas where the procedure is allowed until after 22 weeks.

While it is unlikely to become law, the legislation places Republicans like Amanda Adkins in a challenging position as they scramble to settle on abortion messaging after strict anti-abortion laws took hold in states across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the federal right to an abortion. The procedure remains a protected right in Kansas under the state constitution.

Adkins has distanced herself from a proposed federal ban after voters in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, where she is hoping to unseat incumbent Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, resoundingly rejected the ballot measure that would have eliminated a right to an abortion from the state’s constitution. The “no” votes prevailed even in counties that former President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2020, including Miami and Franklin Counties in the 3rd District.

When asked whether Adkins supported Graham’s bill, Anna Mathews, her campaign manager, pointed to Adkins’ recent guest column in The Star.

“Decisions on abortion policy belong close to the people, at the state level, and that’s where I’ll work to keep them as a member of Congress,” Adkins wrote in the August piece. “I don’t support a federal ban on abortion, nor do I support any other federal policymaking related to contraception or fertility. As a pro-life candidate, I will continue to be part of the dialogue on the issue at the state level, but I believe it’s not Congress’ place to impose a national abortion policy on Kansans.”

The Adkins campaign’s rejection of Graham’s legislation didn’t stop Davids from using it to paint Adkins and the Republican Party as extreme on abortion rights.

“This is not hyperbole or hypothetical anymore,” Davids said. “Extreme politicians have been looking for an opportunity to strip away our right to choose through a total ban on abortion, and without Roe, they have one.”

Sensing momentum after Kansas’ abortion vote, Democrats in the 3rd Congressional District have made abortion rights as a key campaign issue. They’ve attempted to paint Adkins as out of step with the district on abortion rights, even as Adkins’ campaign has made the same argument in favor of Kansas’ existing restrictions.

The debate in Kansas was a carbon copy of the messaging battle unfolding across the capital Tuesday.

Republicans were divided in their support of the legislation as Democrats, emboldened by their party’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, quickly pounced on the idea of a federal ban.

Shortly after U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell distanced the Republican caucus from Graham’s bill, telling reporters at his weekly press conference that abortion rights should be left up to the states, his Democratic foil U.S. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, elicited boos from a crowd at the White House after mentioning Graham’s bill, calling its introduction “unbelievable.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took aim at the bill, saying it would take away rights from millions of women. When asked about the fact that many Americans support abortion bans around 15 weeks, she said the legislation left more extreme laws in place.

“It is an extreme piece of legislation and it is in line with what we’re seeing from Republicans on these extreme agendas that are not in line with the majority of Americans,” Jean-Pierre said.

Graham, when asked why he was sponsoring a federal ban after previously saying he believed the issue should be left up to the states, told reporters Tuesday that he wanted to create a standard for what Republicans believed.

It is unlikely the bill will be put up for a vote in a Congress controlled by the Democratic Party. Instead seems intended as a messaging bill, laying out a Republican position on abortion in order to paint the Democratic Party as extreme on the issue.

“If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you that we’ll have a vote on our bill,” Graham said at a press conference Tuesday. “If the Democrats are in charge, I don’t know if we’ll ever have a vote on our bill.”

Graham is not up for reelection this year, but Republicans running across the country were quickly forced to take a position on his bill.

Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine has tried to make abortion a key issue in Missouri, where her opponent, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, is heavily favored to win the U.S. Senate race. Schmitt played a key role in enacting Missouri’s abortion ban, which was triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.

Busch Valentine said she opposed a federal ban on abortion and used its introduction to criticize Schmitt.

“Politicians need to get the hell out of our doctors’ offices,” Busch Valentine said. “As a nurse, mother, and grandmother, I wholeheartedly believe a woman should have the freedom to make her own healthcare decisions without government mandates. These are deeply personal and private decisions that should be between a woman and her doctor.”

Schmitt, who was at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, did not respond when asked whether he’d support Graham’s legislation.

In the U.S. Capitol, Missouri’s Republican senators didn’t offer their support for Graham’s bill. Sen. Roy Blunt, who is retiring this year, said he believed the issue should be left to the states.

Sen. Josh Hawley, who had long called for the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, said he needed to look into Graham’s bill. He said he didn’t think the federal government should pass abortion restrictions without consensus.

“Where there’s actual consensus I think it’s appropriate for us to act,” Hawley said. “Where there’s not I really think we ought to let voters from the states weigh in.”

Kansas Republican Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran did not respond to a request for comment.

All of Kansas and Missouri’s senators supported a previous version of Graham’s bill that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks. The response to his new bill — though it is more restrictive — marked a change in the abortion rights debate in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision.

“There’s been so much discussion of ‘states’ rights, states’ rights, states need to decide the issue’ but perhaps since Kansas made a decision in August, maybe that didn’t sit well with a particular party and now we’re seeing this action,” said Kansas state Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat. “Overall, I think the assumption on my part as well as a number of people who have watched this, we didn’t figure this was over with the August vote.”

Star reporter Jonathan Shorman and McClatchy DC reporter David Lightman contributed reporting.