On Aug. 2, 2022, Kansas will be the first state in the nation to vote on the issue of abortion since the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24. The League of Women Voters of Kansas (LWVK) strongly opposes this amendment.

This article was originally published in Public News Service. 

The Volunteer State ranks poorly in the U.S. for its overall lack of voter participation. Over the last decade, critics say the poor turnout is partly a result of regular purges of the voter rolls, new registration requirements, and the state's restrictive voting laws that create unnecessary barriers. Ballots are already being cast for the upcoming August 4 primary - and Debby Gould, president of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, said so far, the early voting turnout is low.

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the constitutional right to abortion. In so doing, they turned back the clock, looking almost exclusively at reproductive rights from the lens of the mid-1800s and earlier to determine whether the Constitution confers a right to abortion.

On July 19, 2022, the League's CEO Virginia Kase Solomón spoke before the US Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in favor of the DISCLOSE Act.

This legislation would increase transparency in our elections by requiring large political donors to disclose their identities so voters know who is funding their candidates.