VOTERS IN THE US state of Kansas have protected abortion rights by rejecting a measure that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten abortion restrictions or ban it outright.

The referendum in the conservative state was the first test of US voter sentiment about abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in June.

It was a major victory for abortion rights advocates following weeks in which many states in the South and Midwest largely banned abortion.

Voters rejected a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have added language stating that it does not grant the right to abortion.

A 2019 state Supreme Court decision declared that access to abortion is a “fundamental” right under the state’s Bill of Rights, preventing a ban and potentially thwarting legislative efforts to enact new restrictions.

The referendum was closely watched as a barometer of liberal and moderate voters’ anger over the June ruling scrapping the nationwide right to abortion.

The measure’s failure also was significant because of how conservative Kansas is and how twice as many Republicans as Democrats have voted in its August primaries in the decade leading up to last night’s tilt.

Opponents of the measure predicted that the anti-abortion groups and lawmakers behind the measure would push quickly for an abortion ban if voters approved it.

The 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights blocked a law that banned the most common second-trimester procedure, and another law imposing special health regulations on abortion providers is also on hold.

Abortion opponents argued that all of the state’s existing restrictions were in danger, though some legal scholars found that argument dubious. Kansas does not ban most abortions until the 22nd week of pregnancy.

Backers of the measure began with advantage because anti-abortion lawmakers set the vote for primary election day, when for the past 10 years Republicans have cast twice as many ballots as Democrats. But the early-voting electorate was more Democratic than usual.

The Kansas vote is the start of what could be a long-running series of legal battles playing out where lawmakers are more conservative on abortion than governors or state courts. Kentucky will vote in November on whether to add language similar to Kansas’ to its state constitution.

Meanwhile, Vermont will decide in November whether to add an abortion rights provision to its constitution. A similar question is likely headed to the November ballot in Michigan.