On abortion - will Kentucky be a repeat of Kansas?
I travel to Louisville to report on how a ballot measure is shaping up. (Also, tacos.)
Just a quick post to point you to my reporting for NPR’s All Things Considered Monday from Kentucky, where voters are considering Amendment 2, a ballot measure seen as unfriendly to abortion rights.
As I traveled to Kentucky recently, I was thinking a lot about a similar vote in another red state, Kansas - and a message from one of my former youth group friends back home (I grew up in Missouri and went to church in Kansas).
After that vote in early August, she shared with me how emotional it felt for her.
As you’ll hear more about in my NPR story, abortion rights supporters in Kentucky are hoping to replicate that win in Kansas; they’ve even hired the person who led the fight against the similar Kansas amendment to lead their campaign.
You’ll hear an interview with her, and an abortion opponent who hopes voters will approve the amendment - which could shore up Kentucky’s abortion restrictions that are currently in effect but facing ongoing court challenges.
Sidenote, I would totally go back to Louisville
It’s a lovely southern town with nice people and excellent food. While in Louisville, I caught up with my colleagues from NPR member station WFPL’s newsroom (who are following the ballot measure closely, and are a great resource if you want to keep up).
And, developed an emotional relationship with some BBQ tacos in the NuLu district.
At WFPL, I also popped into the studio for a longer conversation about abortion and the mid-terms with my friends at NPR’s 1A - who, very luckily for me, were in Louisville at the same time. Here’s Jenn White and me together IRL:
Abortion is on the ballot in many, many ways
Kentucky is one of several states (Vermont, California, Michigan, Montana) with specific ballot questions about abortion. And of course, the issue is front and center in many races up and down the ballot nationwide. For more in-depth analysis of how that’s shaping up, check out this conversation by my NPR Politics colleagues or my recent interview with Apple News.