On Tuesday, Kansas voters will decide whether or not to keep the right to an abortion in their state constitution and to discuss that vote CNN Newsroom host Alisyn Camerota teamed up with pro-abortion activist Ashley All of Kansas for Constitutional Freedom to accuse pro-lifers of using trickery in the wording of the ballot measure.
After describing the wordings “at best, confusing,” Camerota introduced All and continued:
I find this indecipherable. So voting, yes, on this ballot measure means no to abortion rights. Voting no means yes to abortion rights. But it's more complicated than that. I'll read a portion of the language for everyone. “A vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion.
It is one thing to say this could be confusing, it is another to say this was some malicious trick played by pro-lifers, but that is exactly what Camerota suggested, “Is this intentionally convoluted?”
The correct answer is no. The Kansas Constitution, like the federal constitution, does not mention abortion anywhere, but that didn’t stop the state supreme court from saying that it does. Therefore, any amendment to reverse the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling is going to have to include the word “not.” Any confusion is the fault of the activist court.
However, CNN viewers are not provided access to such inconvenient facts. Instead, All agreed there were some shenanigans at play, “from the very beginning this has been a very confusing amendment, not only because of the wording, obviously, it mentions numerous things including, you know, funding of abortion, government funding of abortion, as well as exceptions that aren't actually protected. The—the-- supporters of this amendment really did make this as confusing as possible.”
After All also lamented that the measure is being voted on in August instead of November, Camerota returned to the issue of wording, “And so who wrote this? How did it get on the ballot? Give us a quick history how this came to pass today.”
Again, All saw chicanery, “Sure, it was written by a couple legislators local to Kansas, along with activists, anti-abortion activists and lawyers from their side of the—of the-- argument and really, I think they were trying very hard to make it confusing for voters. Even though, you know, we have a limited right to abortion in our Kansas constitution, and abortion is already heavily regulated here, they wanted to remove that right from the constitution, but make it as difficult as possible for voters to understand what they're voting on.”
CNN and All are already coming up with excuses to explain away a potential defeat.
This segment was sponsored by Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript for the August 2 show:
CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell
8/2/2022
2:53 PM ET
ALISYN CAMEROTA: So today, voters in Kansas will decide the future of abortion rights in their state. Kansas is the first state in the country to put the question of abortion rights directly to voters since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But there's a complication. The wording of the amendment for Kansas voters is, at best, confusing. Let's bring in Ashley All, she is the spokeswoman for Kansas for Constitutional Freedom, that’s a group that supports keeping abortion rights in the Kansas constitution. Ashley, thank you very much for being here. I just want to start with the language--
ASHLEY ALL: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: -- because I find it, I find this indecipherable. So voting, yes, on this ballot measure means no to abortion rights. Voting no means yes to abortion rights. But it's more complicated than that. I'll read a portion of the language for everyone. “A vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion.”
Then the other option is a vote against the Value Them Both Amendment would make no changes to the constitution of the state of Kansas and could restrict the people through their elected state regulators from regulating abortion by leaving in place the recently recognized right to abortion.
Is this intentionally convoluted?
ALL: That was obviously a mouthful. Yes, it was -- from the very beginning this has been a very confusing amendment, not only because of the wording, obviously, it mentions numerous things including, you know, funding of abortion, government funding of abortion, as well as exceptions that aren't actually protected.
The—the-- supporters of this amendment really did make this as confusing as possible. Not only that, they put it on a primary ballot in August, when turnout is roughly half what it is in the general election. Typically, something of this magnitude when you're taking the constitutional rights and freedoms away from half the population of the state, it should be put on the November election ballot.
CAMEROTA: And so who wrote this? How did it get on the ballot? Give us a quick history how this came to pass today.
ALL: Sure, it was written by a couple legislators local to Kansas, along with activists, anti-abortion activists and lawyers from their side of the—of the-- argument and really, I think they were trying very hard to make it confusing for voters. Even though, you know, we have a limited right to abortion in our Kansas constitution, and abortion is already heavily regulated here, they wanted to remove that right from the constitution, but make it as difficult as possible for voters to understand what they're voting on.
