How to Interpret the Kansas Referendum on Abortion

<p><i>This episode contains mention of sexual assault. </i></p><p>Kansas this week became the first U.S. state since the fall of Roe v. Wade to put the question of abortion directly to the electorate.</p><p>The result was resounding. Voters chose overwhelmingly to preserve abortion rights, an outcome that could have important political reverberations for the rest of the country.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/mitch-smith?smid=pc-thedaily">Mitch Smith</a>, a correspondent covering the Midwest and the Great Plains for The New York Times.</p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The defeat of the ballot measure in Kansas was<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/us/kansas-abortion-rights-vote.html"> the most tangible demonstration yet of a political backlash</a> against the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe.</li><li>The result relied on<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/us/kansas-abortion-amendment.html"> a broad coalition of voters</a> who turned out in huge numbers and crashed through party and geographic lines.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>