Pro-abortion groups — including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and George Soros — are pouring millions of dollars into Kansas, campaigning against a state constitutional reform amendment. If passed, it will restore the ability of Kansans to select state supreme court justices.

The Context:

• The proposed constitutional amendment will change the current nominating system for state supreme court justices, in which a small group of predominantly liberal lawyers selects candidates that the governor then chooses from.

• Currently, Kansas is the only state with a Bar-controlled commission type of assisted appointment for supreme court justices. If the Amendment is passed, the decision will be returned to the people – the way that Kansans selected supreme court justices from statehood in 1861 and for nearly 100 years.

• The current system created a liberal court which found a “right” to abortion in the state constitution in 2019 in a stunning example of what many see as judicial activism. The results have been devastating. Kansas has become a destination state for abortions. In 2024, nearly 20,000 babies lost their lives to abortion in Kansas – an increase of 186.5% since the court’s decision – with 76% of those abortions performed on women from outside the state. The number of abortions performed on minor girls also increased 46.81% from 2023 to 2024.  

• Kansans now have no real role in the selection of state supreme court judges other than to occasionally have the opportunity to “not retain” a judge – which has never happened. 

• Big players in the abortion industry, including Planned Parenthood and out-of-state billionaire George Soros, are heavily investing in the opposition to the Kansas amendment.

Follow the Money:

Planned Parenthood and abortion activists are campaigning to keep the current system, which empowers abortion donors and abortion-supporting governors like Governor Laura Kelly to select state supreme court justices and impact legislation on abortion.

The latest data from campaign finance reports released by the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission shows that the opposition to the Amendment (Kansas/Kansans United for Impartial Courts - KsUIC/KnsUIC) has outspent the pro-life side more than 3 to 1 – $12,234,034 to $3,689,425.

The top donors to the pro-abortion opposition are familiar players in abortion-related political and legal battles:

1) American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), New York, NY: $1,000,000 to KsUIC  

The ACLU is a radical pro-abortion group that primarily uses lawsuits to counter and overturn pro-life legislation. The group also heavily funds campaigns targeting state ballot initiatives, in an effort to radically expand abortion laws.

This year, the ACLU pledged $25.5 million to influence voters ahead of the midterm elections, focusing on nine “priority states,” including Kansas. 

2) Planned Parenthood Action Fund, New York, NY: $1,000,000 to KsUIC 

Planned Parenthood Action Fund is the political and legislative advocacy arm of abortion corporation Planned Parenthood Federation of America. It spends millions of dollars to influence policy at the state and federal levels in favor of Planned Parenthood’s gruesome business. 

3) Lynn Rothschild Schusterman, Tulsa, Oklahoma: $1,000,000 to KsUIC 

Lynn Schusterman and the foundation named for her and her late husband, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, have donated repeatedly to out-of-state political initiatives.

Schusterman donated to support Colorado’s Amendment 79, which passed to effectively allow unlimited abortion in the state. The Schusterman foundation donated $5 million to Floridians Protecting Freedom, supporting Amendment 4, which would have enshrined abortion in the Florida State Constitution had it passed. 

According to The Charlotte Lozier Institute, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies has donated $5.6 million to Planned Parenthood, Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity (a radical LGBTQ+ group), and If/When/How, which works with lawyers and law students to help them advocate for abortion. 

4) American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Kansas (ACLU KS), Overland Park, KS: $850,000 to KsUIC 

ACLU Kansas is the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  

5) Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, Overland Park, KS: $450,000 to KsUIC 

Per the report, Planned Parenthood sent these funds from the address of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Overland Park.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains is behind the large number of mailers Kansans have received opposing the amendment and mailed from the same abortion facility address. 

6) Open Society Policy Center, New York, NY (George Soros): $400,000 to KsUIC 

Founded by George Soros in 1993, the New York City-based lobbying group funneled $250,000 into Kansas in 2022 to oppose Value Them Both. (These funds were in addition to over $1.5 million in cash and other contributions from George Soros to block Value Them Both.) 

The Bottom Line:

Major pro-abortion donors, including out-of-state donors, are once again heavily investing in an effort to block a state amendment — this one regarding the “right to vote” amendment in Kansas.