Mr. Douthat is reading the Kansas referendum all wrong as the restrictions that Kansas would have otherwise approved to protect life did not go far enough to recognize abortion as murder and prosecute all persons and organizations involved in seeking, performing and having an abortion with Capital or Murder in the First Degree.
The writer lacks context and nuance.
The Kansas referendum does not carry the implication inferred by the article. The referendum was poorly written & convoluted. It’s impact was unclear. The electorate rejected it on that basis according to many writers.
There is not evidence that this was a full throated prochoice vote. In the next few years as legislation is advanced the desires & beliefs of each State and of the American people will be made clear.
Douthat is the Slimes’ latest pet “conservative”. If he were a serious observer he would know that Prolifers have always known that the reversal of Roe meant a new 50-state phase of the battle, some states would win and some would lose. No surprises in that.
“In many red as well as purple states, those constituencies hold the balance of power. Even with exceptions, a state probably needs to be either very Republican or very religious for a first-trimester abortion ban to be popular, which basically means the Deep South and Mountain (and especially Mormon) West. That was clear before Roe fell — that outright bans would be the exceptions, and the contest in many states would be over how far restrictions can go.”
I tend to agree. Since the Supremes left the decision to the voters of each state, you’re going to see a range of restrictions - from essentially total restriction to none, depending on how conservative or liberal the majority of the states voters are.