BBC News:
Kansas voters have chosen to uphold abortion rights in the first electoral test of the deeply polarising issue since the US Supreme Court allowed states to ban the procedure outright.
Voters overwhelmingly said they did not wish to amend the state constitution to assert there is no right to abortion.
If the ballot had gone the other way, lawmakers could have moved to further restrict or ban abortion in the state.
Michigan, Arizona, Missouri and Washington also held elections.
These states saw Senate races that could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress next year, and two of the nation’s most hotly fought races for governor.
Tuesday’s elections were also a test of former President Donald Trump’s influence in the Republican party as he hints of a possible third run for the White House in 2024.
The vote in Kansas – a referendum separate to the congressional and gubernatorial elections – was the first statewide electoral test of abortion rights since the US Supreme Court two months ago overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalised the procedure nationwide.
The result will be seen as a potential barometer of the issue’s resonance ahead of nationwide mid-term elections on 8 November, with Democrats fighting to retain control of Congress.
