With Roe finally, blessedly undone, the battle for life has only intensified. With “abortion rights” threatened, whatever thin mask might have remained on the face of “choice” has been clawed off. The unhinged rage of abortion supporters should be eye-opening to anyone still under the illusion that “pro-choice” is a reasonable, meritorious position.

How long until our nation finally sees that decent, civilized people do not scream and protest and fight for the power to kill their own children?

Now the ball is back in each state’s court. The power to either protect the child in the womb or protect the abortion industry is in the hands of voters and their state representatives.

Kansas Is Up First

On August 2nd, citizens in Kansas will be the first in the nation to vote on establishing protections for the unborn since Roe went down. The Value Them Both Amendment is critical if Kansas is not to go the way of New York and California. And don’t think Planned Parenthood doesn’t know it. With secure east and west coast havens for abortion, now their eyes are glued on Kansas. Smack in the middle, central United States, abortion zealots now want to make sure Kansas becomes the next haven for unrestricted, unregulated abortion.

In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court “discovered” an “unlimited right” to abortion in the state constitution and ruled that every limit on abortion is now “presumed unconstitutional.” Abortion limits and laws — including laws limiting dismemberment abortions — have been struck down in Kansas one-by-one, turning Kansas into an abortion-destination state for women from other states.

Since 2019 abortions have increased in Kansas by 13%, with half of all abortions here done on out-of-state women coming to Kansas. I suspect those women coming from out of state don’t realize that the laws requiring abortion clinics to be inspected for sanitation have also been struck down.

The Value Them Both Amendment stands between women and babies and an unfettered, unregulated abortion industry.

Lies and Fury

Kansas is my home now, and I’m seeing first-hand how deceitful and wicked is the fight against this amendment. My new parish was vandalized with “My Body My Choice” in red paint across the front of the building, and a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was also doused in red paint.

I’ve seen plenty of flyers come in the mail urging people to “Stop the Ban.” These flyers are just loaded with flat-out lies. (The amendment doesn’t ban anything.) Some have featured sad, distressed women talking about how scared they are that their “choice” will be taken away. One woman clutched a little blanket to her teary face as she described how she had no choice but to end the life of her unhealthy baby and now all she has left is that little blanket but thank goodness she was able to have an abortion.

Some flyers take a more furious tone as they insist that a woman suffering an ectopic pregnancy will be left to die if the amendment passes. Or a woman with a septic uterus or even a complicated miscarriage will be turned away, denied medical care, and suffer horribly until she dies. All utter, ridiculous, shameless lies.

Here’s the Truth

So let’s set this record straight. Here are the facts about Value Them Both:

The VTB Amendment is not a ban on abortion. It does not ban abortion in Kansas. It will not make abortion illegal in Kansas.

The VTB Amendment is not a new law. It’s a constitutional amendment that is needed to return Kansas state law to pre-2019 status, to return the common sense, reasonable limits on the abortion industry. It restores to Kansans the ability to enact laws about abortion through their elected representatives. It means people who don’t want their tax dollars paying for abortions in Kansas will have a chance to vote accordingly. It means Kansans who don’t think babies should be dismembered in the womb will have the chance to pass laws to limit such barbarity.

VTB will safeguard Kansans’ ability to require abortion clinics to be inspected and meet safety and sanitary standards. It will allow for the ability to protect minor girls from having abortions without parents’ knowledge.

None of this is “extreme.” Unless, of course, you are the abortion industry, which is why the effort to defeat this amendment is so fierce. If VTB does not pass, any and all laws regulating the abortion industry will likely be struck down.

The amendment has absolutely nothing to do with medical treatments for ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and other pregnancy complications. The fearmongering coming from the abortion zealots is unconscionable and absurd. Kansas has a very clear legal definition of abortion, which does not include treatment of an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, or septic uterus.

The language of the amendment was carefully drafted to specifically address the 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling. The full text of the amendment is available at ValueThemBoth.com

Life or Death

Roe may be history, but the abortion industry is not. As each state in our divided nation takes up its own legislative campaign either for or against life, those who profit from the slaughter of babies will not go quietly.

For the next two weeks, all eyes are on Kansas and the Value Them Both Amendment.

We must pray this amendment passes.

Jennifer Hartline is a senior contributor to The Stream. You can follow her at @jenniehartline.