Out-of-state donors spending millions to protect abortion in Kansas ahead of statewide vote
An estimated 71% of contributions made to a pro-choice coalition in Kansas were from out-of-state donors
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kansas will become the first state in the nation to vote on abortion following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and pro-choice groups and individuals outside the state are spending millions of dollars in contributions in an attempt to influence the outcome of that vote.
On Aug. 2, voters will cast ballots on the Value Them Both constitutional amendment, which will decide whether elected representatives will have the ability to regulate abortion in Kansas after the state's Supreme Court previously found the 1859 Kansas Constitution grants a "natural right" to abortion.
Recent financial reports filed by Kansans for Constitutional Freedom (KCF), a group that bills itself as a "bipartisan coalition of reproductive rights advocates and allied organizations," revealed that a majority of the donations it has received in its fight to defeat the amendment came from individuals and groups located outside of Kansas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Filed with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission last week, KCF's financial report showed that about 71% of the $6.54 million in contributions it has received were from out-of-state entities. An estimated 29% of the contributions it received were from residents or groups in Kansas.
The Kansas state capitol is seen on April 23, 2020 in Topeka, Kansas. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Notably, an estimated 22% of contributions received by KCF were from abortion providers or abortion lobbying organizations located both in-state and out-of-state.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We enjoy broad support from 60+ Kansas clergy from multiple denominations and another 30 ministers just spoke out against the amendment that would mandate government control over private medical decisions and eliminate the freedom of Kansans," a KCF spokesperson shared with Fox News Digital.
Additionally, KCF shared with Fox News Digital that nearly 5,000 contributions were received from 80 of the 105 counties in Kansas, totaling $488,392.
Large contributions received by KCF include $1.38 million from Sixteen Thirty Fund, a powerful left wing dark money group, and $850,000 from Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, an advocacy arm for Kansas' Planned Parenthood Great Plains, also donated more than $490,000.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 5-month fetus in the womb as imaged by sonogram/ultrasound (iStock)
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Value Them Both (VTB), a coalition in direct opposition to KCF that is urging Kansans to vote yes on the amendment, also filed a financial report last week with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. According to that report, a majority of the contributions VTB received were from Kansas residents and entities.
Of the $4.66 million contributed to VTB, the report revealed that less than 1% of the donations the group received were from out-of-state contributors.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Notably, VTB received at least one contribution totaling more than $1 million from a sole entity. Other significant contributions received by VTB stemmed from religious groups, mostly Catholic organizations in the state. The Archdiocese of Kansas City contributed $2.1 million, while the Catholic Diocese of Wichita gave $300,000.
"Value Them Both has been saying all along that Kansans do not support the national radical pro-abortion agenda of the left," said Mackenzie Haddix, deputy communications director for the Value Them Both coalition. "KCF's out-of-state donations speak for themselves and indicate that the voters of Kansas do not want unlimited abortion in our state."
Interior views of the capitol dome and main lobby of the Kansas statehouse in 2015. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court struck down a ban on surgical abortions in a 6-1 decision, ruling that the state's constitution protected women's choice to engage in that activity as a "right."
The high court ruled that the state constitution incorporated language from the Declaration of Independence that recognized that certain rights predated the country. The Declaration's "natural, inalienable rights," the court said, included "personal autonomy" and, therefore, protected abortion.