Kansas voters reject 59-41 a constitutional amendment to remove abortion rights, the first post-Dobbs ballot test

On August 2, 2022, just 40 days after the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, Kansas voters rejected 59-41 the Value Them Both Amendment, which would have removed a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling that the state constitution protected abortion rights. The vote was held during a primary election when turnout was expected to be lower and more conservative — a deliberate timing choice by Republican legislators who controlled the ballot. Instead, roughly 908,000 votes were cast, nearly double typical Kansas primary turnout. Abortion rights advocates outspent opponents $8.8 million to $4.8 million. The result was the first indication that abortion rights remained broadly popular even in Republican-leaning states and signaled a national pattern that would hold across 12 consecutive ballot measure victories.