Gen Z politicians who want to make a change grapple with parties that aren’t always ready for them
Their experiences in Kansas highlight broader frustrations among members of Gen Z who feel excluded from U.S. politics
Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
This story is part of Gen Z at the Ballot Box and was published by The 19th and States Newsroom
After state Rep. Angel Roeser defied her fellow Republicans and voted against their plan to ask voters to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected, members of her own party shared a graphic calling her and three other dissenters “obstructionists.” With the inside of the Capitol dome colored blood red and the representatives’ faces plastered beneath it in black and white, the words and visuals are akin to a tabloid mug shot. Read more
New Kansas law limits efforts to document ICE activity. Video shows how officers utilize the law.
Kansas Reflector screen capture, Shana Leacox video
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded a Lenexa woman recording video from her car as an officer shouted “25 feet, 25 feet” and ordered her to move back July 11 in Olathe. She couldn’t move because they had trapped her. The officer’s command referenced a new Kansas law. Effective July 1, it criminalized “unlawfully approaching” law enforcement officers or first responders within 25 feet under certain circumstances. The law changed how people like Shana Leacox document ICE activity. Read more
After fighting clean water rules, Kansas attorney general argues abortion pill is a contaminant
Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach called for the classification of mifepristone, an abortion medication, as a water contaminant in a June 5 letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency despite his past efforts to decrease water contaminant regulation. Mifepristone is a part of a two-drug prescription regimen to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks. It is safe, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The letter, signed by 14 Republican state attorneys general, including Kobach, said after mifepristone is ingested and processed through women’s bodies, the drug’s chemical compounds contaminate the water supply. Read more
Kansas AG’s proposed restriction on mifepristone would impact more than abortion patients
Photo by Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent
Janice Powers treats her hormonal disorder with the abortion pill Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and attorneys general from other states want to regulate as a water contaminant. Mifepristone, a medication researchers have found to be safe and effective, is commonly prescribed as part of a two-pill regimen to terminate a first-trimester pregnancy. It also can treat other conditions. Powers, a 61-year-old from Andover who is a project manager at the CDC Foundation, takes it for Cushing’s syndrome, a disorder caused by high levels of the cortisol hormone. The pill blocks cortisol receptors to minimize the hormone’s effects. Read more
Profiles in resistance: Residents of this Kansas town unite in opposition to ICE and CoreCivic
Photo by Baya Burgess/ Kansas Reflector
Amid a clash between a new immigration jail and the city that hosts it, residents from Leavenworth and nearby areas gathered last month to talk strategies for protecting people held in the facility. For some, it was just the latest meeting in a long resistance against the jail opened by the private prison company CoreCivic. Leavenworth, a small city in eastern Kansas, is known for embracing its multiple prisons and a military fort. But some residents refuse to accept the city’s latest installation. They often work together and rally others along the way. Read more