Dramatic pro-choice victory in Kansas demonstrates the power of the appeal to personal freedom
Central to the argument that swayed 60% of Kansas voters to preserve protections for abortion rights codified in their state constitution was the value of personal freedom. It was not the only piece of the argument, but it was key to bringing along a big share of a predominantly Republican electorate to vote resoundingly for choice. They voted for choice not Democrats, even though most of pro-choice energy and grassroots work came from Democrats. In fact, one of the tenets of American conservatism is that it’s the Left that poses the greatest danger to personal freedom and personal choice.
The high-profile alignment of “pro-life” Christian absolutism with the political Right creates the illusion among Democrats that Republicans are universally opposed to abortion. To the contrary, Kansas voters proved that views on the legality of abortion cross party lines. There are some Democrats—Catholics in particular—who are against abortion in most if not all cases, and there are obviously plenty of Republicans in Kansas who believe in a lawful right to an abortion. My father was a bedrock fiscal conservative who demonized Franklin D. Roosevelt, but he was also an agnostic, and he believed in abortion rights.