The Supreme Court's decision on the Dobbs abortion-rights case has elicited strong opinions from people on both sides of the issue, as expected.

The matter is important for Kansas voters, who will have more of a voice on the state's rules about abortion when they vote on the Value Them Both amendment in early August. 

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R) welcomes the vote. He said he is disturbed by the increase in abortions in Kansas and supports the amendment.

"In my view, the increase in the number of abortions in Kansas the past two years after a long period of steady decline is distressing," Schmidt said on Twitter. "I prefer a future with less abortion, not more."

The Supreme Court announced in a 6-3 ruling on June 24 that it overturned Roe v. Wade. The judges decided that abortion is not a constitutional right and returned power to the states to determine the legality of abortion within their borders. 

"The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion, as CNBC reported. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives." 

In response to that news, Schmidt sent out a series of tweets about what the decision would mean in Kansas.

"Today’s landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was the right one because as a matter of constitutional interpretation, as the court writes, 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,'" Schmidt said on Twitter the day the ruling was announced. "Today's decision means the power and responsibility to decide the important and difficult questions involving regulation of abortion have been returned to the people instead of federal judges."

Abortions in Kansas increased by 4.1% in 2021; 7,849 abortions were recorded in 2021, up from 7,542 in 2020. The 2021 number represents the most abortions performed in the state since 2011, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. 

The report added some insight into who the patients were. Nearly 10% (751) of those abortions were performed on teenagers, six of whom were under the age of 14. One-third (32%) of the women had undergone at least one prior abortion, and 3,458 of the women traveled to Kansas from Missouri to undergo abortions. 

The Value Them Both amendment would essentially undo a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling that said women have a right to abortion at any point during pregnancy.

Kansas will be the first state to let citizens of voting age voice their preferences regarding abortion.

"The people of Kansas will speak directly to this subject in less than six weeks,” Schmidt said. "In voting on the Value Them Both amendment, Kansans will decide whether state judges may determine how abortion is regulated in Kansas or whether that is a responsibility for the elected and democratically accountable branches of state government."

The Value Them Both amendment would not ban abortion in the state of Kansas, according to the coalition's website. Instead, it would leave the door open for lawmakers to enact protections, restrictions, and regulations, such as requiring informed consent and parental notification of abortion for minors. 

"To preserve existing limits on late-term abortions, requirements parents be notified when minors seek abortion, and prohibitions on using taxpayer funds to pay for abortion, I will join with other pro-life Kansans in casting my vote for Value Them Both," Schmidt said. "On August 2, the people will speak and their voice will show the path forward for Kansas." 

Schmidt is seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Kansas, according to Ballotpedia.