“Are you registered to vote?” was added to “First, do no harm” in the lexicon of medical professionals, including the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, (CHC/SEK) as an “army” of political activists soundly defeated the anti-abortion Value Them Both (VTB) 
constitutional amendment in 2022, according to an analysis by journalist Earl Glynn.
59% of Kansans rejected the Value Them Both amendment, which was prompted by the Kansas Supreme Court declaring that abortion is a constitutional right.
Among the organizations cited by Glynn that descended upon Kansas to fight the Value Them Both amendment:
- The Rural Democracy Initiative, which says it is dedicated to supporting “rural people working to transform their lives and communities to advance widely shared prosperity and democracy”, according to its website.
- Vot – ER, which “develops nonpartisan civic engagement tools and programs for every corner of the healthcare system—from private practitioners to medical schools to hospitals.”
Both are non-profit, 501(c) (3) organizations.
In June of 2022, the American Medical Association declared:
“Voting is a social determinant of health and significantly contributes to the analyses of other social determinants of health as a key metric.”
The political activism that followed in opposition to Value Them Both is reflected in the number of Kansas medical organizations participating with Vot – ER in advocacy:
- Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas
- Greenwood County Hospital
- Holton Community Hospital
- Kansas Hospital Association
- Lawrence Memorial Hospital
- Southwest Medical Center
- Sunflower Medical Group
- University of Kansas Health System
- Vibrant Health
Crawford County reported a voter turnout of 41% in the August vote on Value Them Both, twice the normal turnout on a primary election day. Opponents of the amendment scored a solid victory, racking up 55% of the vote.
In a video message celebrating the victory, Krista Postai, CEO of the CHC/SEK, credited Vot – ER’s organization and effort:
“We’ve always as a community health center promoted voting kind of passively … this time we felt we had to double down because it was a critical issue and there was a lot of controversy around it — a lot of confusion — so we did double down our efforts, particularly in light of the fact that now the AMA (American Medical Association) has endorsed voting as a social determinant of health. …
“Community health workers in our world are relatively new. We went from zero to 50 overnight … They’re our army. They’re all young, mostly female.
“We had two text campaigns and did text people twice.
“Using your [VotER] tools we did train our staff on how to talk to folks and educate them on what the regulations and laws were in Kansas, which again were very confusing
“We’ve got going here as a social determinant of health that is going to change the world. It is thrilling to see the new generation is so engaged.
“I need to thank you guys for giving us the tools to do it. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
