MSNBC co-host Joe Scarborough went on a rant about abortion Wednesday after Kansas voters rejected an amendment that would allow state lawmakers to ban or severely restrict abortion in their state.
Kansas voted 59 to 41 to reject a constitutional amendment that would allow the state’s legislature to restrict abortion Tuesday night. The outcome came as a surprise in a state that voted 56.1 to 41.5 for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
“This is a rapist’s bill of rights that these Republicans are passing. A rapist bill of rights for forced childbirth on children,” Scarborough said on “Morning Joe.” “This is the Republican Party in 2022. And even in a pro-life state, even in a Republican state that hasn’t elected a democratic president in 50 years, they are repulsed by the radicalism of this new Republican Party.”
WATCH:
I’ve seen enough: in a huge victory for the pro-choice side, the Kansas constitutional amendment to remove protections of abortion rights fails.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 3, 2022
Co-host Mika Brzezinski said the vote spelled trouble for Republicans come November. (RELATED: Mika Brzezinski Says Conflict Between Democrats And Republicans Is Battle Between ‘Good And Evil’)
“Just for the midterms—I’ll say this just as the woman on the set—watch out,” Brzezinski said. “I mean, I’m surprised by Kansas and I’m not surprised, because women are not going to stand by idly and say, yeah, you can take away our rights.”
Kansas’s ballot referendum is one of many such initiatives considered by states after the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there was no constitutional right to abortion, returning the abortion issue back to the states.