Amber Duke knew full well that if she and her fellow fighters couldn’t find a way to talk about abortion any other way, the carrots were baked in Kentucky.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
In Tuesday’s midterm elections, more than 60 percent of voters in the state voted to keep ultraconservative politician Rand Paul — Tea Party figurehead and anti-abortion activist — as their representative in the Senate in Washington.
In the House of Representatives? They chose four Republicans for five seats. And in the state legislature, Republicans also have an overwhelming majority. The state — right in the heart of the country — is painted red from edge to edge. And he is deeply religious. Nearly 75% of the population calls itself Christian, including 50% Evangelicals and 10% Catholics.
So in that context, how did pro-choice activists manage to mobilize the same voters to vote Tuesday 52% against an amendment — Amendment 2 — that would have written black and white in the State Constitution that there is no right to abortion? They spoke to them in a language that was familiar to them.
“One of the big problems was that people saw the abortion issue as a partisan issue,” notes Amber Duke, who is acting director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Kentucky. By this logic, Democrats are largely pro-choice and Republicans, supposedly “pro-life” or anti-abortion.
These two ideological camps have been even more divided since the Supreme Court – mainly conservative – overturned the judgment last June Roe v. wade which had protected the right to abortion throughout the country since 1973.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY AMBER DUKE
Amber Duke, Acting Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky
“Here, people were told that this is not a political issue, but a health care issue. They were told about their right to privacy, emphasizing the need to keep the government away from their private life, ”summarizes Amber Duke.
Now, this anti-state intervention argument is straight out of the Tea Party catechism. “These are concepts that people could understand,” adds Ms.me Duke, who was born and raised in the Kentucky metropolis Louisville and was a journalist before joining the civil rights organization.
For a year and a half, the coalition of organizations that calls itself “Protect Access Kentucky” has worked hard to bring its message to every corner of the state.
They worked under the supervision of Rachel Sweet, who coordinated the campaign to defeat a similar proposal from Kansas — another conservative state — last August. “We had advertisements on television, on the radio, in the newspapers. We had volunteers all over the state who went door to door and made phone calls. People were encouraged to open up a dialogue about the issue in their book clubs, at church, at the synagogue. We worked on the level of human relations, ”lists Mme Duke, reached by phone Wednesday afternoon.
It all resulted in one of the most resounding victories of midterm election night.
In fact, wherever the issue of abortion made it onto the ballot on November 8, the pro-free will side won the day. In Montana, voters blocked another measure that would have criminalized health care workers who operate in abortion clinics. Again, at 52%.
And in Vermont, Michigan and California, voters decided to enshrine reproductive autonomy and, therefore, the right to abortion in their state constitutions.
Quite a response to the anti-choice camp that is leading the way at the level of state legislatures. Since the invalidation of Roe v. wade, 13 states have banned abortion and many others have severely restricted access. Kentucky is one.
If she is delighted with the victory at the polls on Tuesday, Amber Duke notes that the battle is far from over. In fact, it’s only just begun. As of next week, she and her team will be before the Supreme Court of Kentucky to ask that the anti-abortion measures adopted by the State be suspended until the right to abortion is debated on the merits.
“And then we’re going to prepare for the new anti-abortion measures that the state legislature plans to put forward when it sits again in January 2023,” she said, with a mixture of fatigue and determination in her face. voice.