TOPEKA – (June 24, 2022) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued the following statement in relation to today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:

“Today’s landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was the right one because as a matter of constitutional interpretation, as the Court writes, ‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.’ Now, the Court explains, ‘The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.’

“Today’s decision means the power and responsibility to decide the important and difficult questions involving regulation of abortion have been returned to the people instead of federal judges. The people of Kansas will speak directly to this subject in less than six weeks. In voting on the Value Them Both amendment, Kansans will decide whether state judges may determine how abortion is regulated in Kansas or whether that is a responsibility for the elected and democratically accountable branches of state government.

“In my view, the increase in the number of abortions in Kansas the past two years after a long period of steady decline is distressing. I prefer a future with less abortion, not more. To preserve existing limits on late-term abortions, requirements parents be notified when minors seek abortion, and prohibitions on using taxpayer funds to pay for abortion, I will join with other pro-life Kansans in casting my vote for Value Them Both. On August 2, the people will speak and their voice will show the path forward for Kansas.”