Supreme Court fight intensifies abortion debate in Kansas as Marshall and Bollier clash

WASHINGTON -- Before the Aug. 4 Kansas primary decided nominees for the open U.S. Senate seat, the state’s leading anti-abortion group mailed hundreds of thousands of postcards warning voters not to give Democrat Barbara Bollier a say in any future Supreme Court vacancy.

Neither Bollier nor her Republican opponent, Rep. Roger Marshall, will get a vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the high court, federal appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett, whose confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin October 12.

But the tight timeline set by GOP leaders — calling for a Senate vote on Coney Barrett before Election Day to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg— ensures that debates over judicial selection and abortion rights will exert a powerful influence on the Kansas contest.

“Make no mistake, this is a defining issue of this election,” Marshall said in a campaign email shortly after Trump formally introduced Coney Barrett in the White House Rose Garden Saturday. “When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I am committed to always voting to confirm pro-Constitution judges who stand for life and for our Kansas values.”

Read more: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article246007370.html