Kansas Goes Pro-Choice

From the AP came the big news last night: 

“Kansas voters on Tuesday sent a resounding message about their desire to protect abortion rights, rejecting a ballot measure in a conservative state with deep ties to the anti-abortion movement that would have allowed the Republican-controlled legislature to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure outright.”

This is notable because this is the first state to put abortion on the ballot since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

It’s also a hopeful sign for Democrats that the public may be motivated enough to come to the polls this fall to restore abortion rights and elect pro-choice lawmakers.

Of course, it’s only one state and one election, but Kansas is a deep red, reliably conservative and heavily Republican state. The vote may indicate a large enough backlash against the conservative Supreme Court that could determine which party ends up controlling Congress in the midterm elections.

LATEST LINKS:

• Kansas votes to protect abortion rights in state constitution (Guardian)

• Kansas Upheld Abortion Rights And Other Key Updates From The Aug. 2 Elections (538)

• Kansas voters resoundingly protect access to abortion (AP)

• Pelosi arrives in Taiwan, voicing U.S. 'solidarity' as China fumes (Reuters)

• China sends warships to surround Taiwan amid Pelosi visit (Politico)

• Pelosi lands in Taiwan, defying Chinese warnings of forceful response (WP)

• U.S. Warns China Not to Turn Pelosi’s Trip to Taiwan Into a ‘Crisis’ (NYT)

• Nancy Pelosi's long history of opposing Beijing (BBC)

• Taiwan presidential office website hit by cyberattack ahead of Pelosi visit (Politico)

• Biden: Killing of al-Qaida leader is long-sought ‘justice’ (AP)

• Ayman al-Zawahiri: Shock in Kabul as US kills al-Qaeda leader (BBC)

• Killed at 71, Ayman al-Zawahri Led a Life of Secrecy and Violence (NYT)

• Who was Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader and Osama bin Laden successor? (WP)

• What Zawahri’s Death Tells Us About Afghanistan’s Future (Politico)

• Taliban under scrutiny as US kills al-Qaida leader in Kabul (AP)

• Taliban is facing backlash after U.S. drone strike against al-Qaeda leader (WP)

• For the Taliban, a New Era of Isolation Has Arrived (NYT)

• Ayman al-Zawahiri and the Taliban (New Yorker)

• House panels: DHS officials interfered in effort to get lost Secret Service texts (Guardian)

• In an attempt to find some middle ground, a group of senators from both parties introduced a long-shot bill that would prohibit states from banning abortion before a fetus is viable. The bill is co-authored by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). For now, the effort is more symbolic than anything else. [HuffPost]

• Democrats now have a 57% chance of retaining control of the Senate (538)

• Examination of the substance in Brittney Griner's vape cartridges violated Russian law, defense expert says (CNN)

• Credit card debt surged as inflation forced Americans to borrow more (WP)

• VIDEO: United States Will Send Ukraine Another $550 Million in Military Aid (NYT)

• Russia Shells Apartment Buildings in Ukraine (WSJ)

• World one step from `nuclear annihilation,′ UN chief warns (AP)

• For Palestinians living on the crowded Gaza Strip, a searing summer heatwave has been made worse by power cutsthat leave them without electricity for as much as 10 hours a day. (Reuters)

• Anything Facebook creates now will misfire’: Ethereum creator dumps cold water on Zuckerberg’s Web3 dreams (Fortune)

• What Did Facebook Do Now? Last week, Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri both yielded to a new reality: TikTok is the social center of the internet. (Atlantic)

• Saving vs. Investing: How Do You Decide? (WSJ)

• Young people are pissed off: Housing crush sours millennial voters (Politico)

• A scientific breakthrough could help change the way we heal people. — Stem cell researchers in Israel created synthetic mouse embryos without using a sperm or egg, then grew them in an artificial womb for eight days. (WP)

• Solar storm from hole in the sun will hit Earth on Wednesday (LiveScience)

• Call for hippos to join list of world’s most endangered animals (Guardian)

• California, Illinois declare states of emergency over monkeypox (WP)

• A librarian collects all the things left in books — from love letters to old photos (NPR)

• San Diego Padres agree to trade for Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto (ESPN)

• The most Midwestern things on Earth, according to data (WP)

• Vin Scully, iconic former Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster, dies at age 94 (ESPN)

• Report: Half Of All Americans Probably Should Have Thought Of That Before They Opened Their Mouth (The Onion)