U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids returned to the issue she used effectively in 2022, launching a new abortion ad against Republican challenger Prasanth Reddy in the race for the Kansas 3rd Congressional District.
Davids started running a new ad, saying that Reddy opposed Roe v. Wade and has taken more than $100,000 from groups and candidates who oppose abortion.
It’s similar to the approach that Davids used in 2022 when she defeated Republican Amanda Adkins.
About 68% of voters in the Kansas 3rd District voted against the 2022 constitutional amendment that would have removed the right to an abortion in the Kansas Constitution. The amendment is evoked in the new Davids’ ad.
Over the weekend, Reddy wrote a column published by The Kansas City Star that said his positions on abortion right were being distorted.
He targeted an opinion piece published in The Star that was authored by a Prairie Village obstetrician, who similarly argued that Reddy supported overturning Roe and was supported by “MAGA Washington politicians” who favor a national abortion ban.
Reddy, an oncologist, called the opinion piece the first of many “misleading attacks Kansas voters can expect to see about this deeply personal topic.”
“Between now and Election Day, the topic of abortion will be twisted for political gain to divide Kansans,” he wrote.
Further, Reddy said he didn’t support a national abortion ban.
“I wouldn’t vote for one in Congress. This issue should be left to the states,” he wrote.
“I believe any state-level legislation should protect access to contraception and, at minimum, include exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities inconsistent with life and threats to the life of the mother,” he wrote.
“I’ll always support the choice that Kansas voters made on abortion rights two years ago and would never vote in Congress to overrule the will of the people. Period,” he wrote.
In an interview with the Sunflower State Journal last year, Reddy described himself as “pro life” with exceptions for rape, incest and endangering the life of the mother.
Reddy said he didn’t vote for the Value Them Both amendment in 2022 because it was “unclear as to exactly what it meant.”
“There was a lot of money spent on Value Them Both and really, like many Kansans, I was a little bit unclear as to exactly what we were voting for,” he said.
“Kansans have made their voices clear, and I certainly respect that,” he said. “I believe this is a states rights issue.”
