As Missouri abortion rights groups mount a campaign to overturn the state’s near-total abortion ban through a statewide vote later this year, supporters are looking to Kansas as a model.
More than 17 months ago, Kansas became the first state to vote on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Kansas’ vote affirmed a state Supreme Court decision that the state constitution protects the right to an abortion. Now, it could offer a pathway for the campaign in Missouri, the first state to ban the procedure through a trigger law that went into effect just moments after Roe fell .
“There are a lot of similarities in the electoral makeup of our states,” said Mallory Schwarz, the executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, part of the coalition to overturn the Missouri ban.
“The number one line is that Missourians, like Kansans already proved, don’t support bans on abortion.”
But a Missouri vote would pose a major test for both supporters and opponents.