To the editor:

I would like to share my perspective with my fellow Kansans as we move forward from the overturning of Roe V Wade.

I am a 7th generation Kansan, whose ancestors traveled to this state to fight alongside John Brown for the abolition of slavery. Generations of my family have prided ourselves in being a part of making this state a safe space for those seeking freedom and the right to determine their own futures, and that is why I am asking that we remember our legacy as a Free State and vote NO on the August 2nd Constitutional Amendment which seeks to eliminate our reproductive rights.

Forced birth is not, and will never be, in the spirit of the state of Kansas, because we are historically a state that values personal freedom over oppression. Lawrence, my hometown, was burned to the ground because we stood by our value of freedom, and that spirit is still alive today.

I believe that this is not a question of when life begins; it is a question of the integrity and value of that life, as well as the sanctity of privacy and autonomy. When we give politicians the power to control our bodies, everybody suffers for it.

Please join me in protecting the deeply American, authentically Kansan value of personal choice and freedom and vote No on August 2nd.

Chloe Burns

Lawrence