Why Texas won' t have an abortion referendum like Kansas - Axios AustinLog InLog InAxios Austin is an Axios company.

Why Texas won' t have an abortion referendum like Kansas

Demonstrators rally against anti-abortion and voter-suppression laws at the Texas State Capitol in October in Austin. Photo: Montinique Monroe/Getty Images A huge win in Kansas this week for abortion rights supporters energized Democrats — and raised questions about whether such a referendum could pass in Texas. The short answer: Yes, Texas voters might very well support a constitutional right to abortion — but there's no way in hell they'll get to weigh in. Driving the news: In Kansas, the Democratic-controlled state supreme court recognized the right to abortion, prompting the Republican-controlled legislature to ask voters to effectively veto that decision.But voters instead supported keeping that right protected, giving hope to progressives after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Between the lines: In Texas, the elected, all-Republican state supreme court will never go that route — so the GOP-controlled legislature, which has ratcheted down abortion access, will not have to resort to an appeal to voters. Amendments to the Texas Constitution can be put before voters only after being approved by two-thirds of each body of the legislature, Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Sam Taylor tells Axios. Of note: Texas lawmakers could decide to put a constitutional amendment banning abortion before voters — but such a maneuver could backfire.A majority of Texas voters — 54% — oppose a total ban on abortions, per polling earlier this year from the . What they're saying: State Rep. Donna Howard, a nurse and Austin Democrat, said the Kansas vote was an encouraging sign for pro-abortion-rights voters in red states like Texas."We can certainly at least infer that voters are not wanting to have this kind of overreach from the government," Howard told Axios.She added that the true test could come from statewide races: "There is a lot of potential here if we have a way to make sure that message is still getting out to folks on a regular basis." Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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