Voters in Kansas and Missouri decisively rejected ballot measures on Tuesday that were seen as efforts to restrict abortion rights, signaling continued public support for abortion access despite the states’ Republican-leaning political landscapes. While abortion was not explicitly mentioned on the ballots, the measures were widely understood to have significant implications for the future of abortion rights in both states.

In Kansas, voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have changed the selection process for Supreme Court justices from gubernatorial appointment and retention votes to direct elections. Supporters of the amendment, primarily Republicans, argued that electing justices would make the court more accountable and potentially open the door for conservative jurists to revisit the state Supreme Court’s 2019 ruling that found a right to abortion under the Kansas Constitution. The court currently consists of six justices appointed by Democratic governors and one Republican appointee, a makeup that has maintained abortion protections in the state.

The amendment’s defeat preserves the current judicial selection system and is viewed by many as a safeguard for abortion rights in Kansas in the near term. Democrat Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, a state representative who opposed electing judges, said it ensures continued protections “for the next couple of years,” though she acknowledged abortion rights remain vulnerable. Republicans such as State Representative Blake Carpenter expressed intent to continue advocating for judicial election reform, framing the issue as one of accountability rather than abortion policy.

Meanwhile, Missouri voters rejected a legislative proposal to alter the process for future citizen-initiated constitutional amendments by requiring them to garner majority support in every congressional district, rather than relying on a simple statewide majority as currently practiced. The change would have made it harder for ballot measures, particularly those supporting abortion rights or left-leaning policies, to pass in the state’s conservative districts.

This ballot defeat comes in the context of a narrowly approved constitutional amendment earlier in 2024 that established abortion rights in Missouri. However, the question remains unsettled as voters will face another constitutional measure in November seeking to remove abortion rights and effectively ban the procedure. The rejected Tuesday measure would not have applied to legislatively initiated amendments like the upcoming abortion-related vote.

Supporters of the proposed change argued it would preserve the integrity of the amendment process, while opponents viewed it as a tactic aimed at weakening voter initiatives, especially those protecting abortion access. If the November amendment passes, abortion rights advocates face a more challenging path to restoring those protections due to the heightened requirements for citizen-initiated measures that were proposed but ultimately rejected on Tuesday.

At the polls in Kansas, many voters expressed diverse motivations behind their decisions, with some citing concerns about judicial independence rather than abortion specifically. While some voters acknowledged the abortion implications, others focused on broader issues of governance and court politicization. The election results reflect the complex attitudes in both states where conservative elected officials coexist with electorates that have repeatedly backed abortion rights and other progressive measures through ballot initiatives.