A Win for Abortion Rights after the fall of Roe: URGE Kansas

Catalyst Fund and IVE grantee Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity (URGE) builds power and sustains a young people’s movement for reproductive justice by centering the leadership of young people of color who are women, queer, trans, nonbinary, and low-income.

In 2022, RJ organizers in Kansas accomplished what many believed was impossible: a win for abortion rights in a red state after the fall of Roe. URGE made more than 25,000 phone calls to Kansans, collected hundreds of pledges from Kansas voters to vote ‘NO’ on the constitutional amendment, and sent out nearly 20,000 mailers to young voters of color across the state.

Due to the leadership of on-the-ground groups, including URGE Kansas, Trust Women, ACLU of Kansas, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, as well as a broad statewide coalition supported by national organizations and resources, over a half-million people in Kansas voted NO to defeat the constitutional amendment.

URGE remains ready to defend the dignity and self-determination of young people, acknowledging that the abortion fight is now a state-by-state battleground. URGE is prepared to hold the line across the South and Midwest and will keep fighting until we regain the right to bodily autonomy, including abortion.