The right to abortion is enshrined in state constitutions. If it is overturned by amendment, the right to terminate the pregnancy will be lost. The state legislature, dominated by conservative Republicans, could have passed anti-abortion legislation.

But it won’t come. With the outcome of the referendum, Kansas voters upheld a 2019 state Supreme Court ruling that classified the right to abortion under the Kansas “Bill of Rights” — which was enacted as a fundamental right. The amendment was rejected by a majority of 65 to 35 percent.

In Kansas, a relatively sparsely populated state in the middle of the US, abortions are currently allowed up to 22 weeks. Those regulations make the state a haven for women from neighboring states Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. At the end of June, the Supreme Court in Washington decided Roe vs. Wade was destroyed.

Four other states — Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia — have passed constitutional amendments in the past decade that have removed the right to abortion from their constitutions. Those amendments were critical in restricting access to abortion in the post- Roe era. So it won’t get that far in the Republican-controlled state of Kansas.

In November, Kentucky and Montana vote on anti-abortion amendments, while the Democratic-led states of California and Vermont vote on amendments to include abortion rights in their state constitutions.

After nearly 50 years, the constitutional right to abortion is ending in the United States. The US Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade: