A vote in Kansas to preserve abortion rights was confirmed again Sunday evening, after a partial hand recount in select counties changed fewer than 100 votes.
The nine-county hand recount was funded by several anti-abortion activists — who fell short of raising the required $229,000 fee required to pay for a recount in all 105 counties. Melissa Leavitt, the activist who pushed for a recount, and Kansas Coalition for Life chairman Mark Gietzen, an anti-abortion ally who tried to help her raise the money for the effort, forked over $119,000 last week for the recount.
In the end, anti-abortion activists secured the funds needed for nine of the state’s 105 counties to recount their votes.
Earlier this month, a larger than expected turnout of Kansas voters voted no on the measure that would have stripped protections for abortion right out of the Kansas Constitution and would have given the state legislature authority to impose more restrictions or implement a ban on abortion. It was the first state referendum on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June.
A no vote on the referendum was a vote to retain abortion protections in the states, while a yes vote would’ve given the state legislature the power to impose restrictions or ban access to abortion. Following the recounts, “no” votes lost 87 votes and the yeses gained 6 votes, according to the Associated Press.
