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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN ROE V. WADE
Oregon Democrats vow to protect access to abortion
By NICOLE HAYDEN,
JAMIE GOLDBERG and
BETSY HAMMOND
The Oregonian
The governors of Oregon, Washing-
ton state and California signed on to
a commitment Friday to reproductive
freedom, making the West Coast’s three
states a safe haven for anyone seeking
abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court
on Friday struck down Roe v. Wade.
In Oregon, pregnant people’s access
to abortion, whether by prescription or
surgery, is expected to remain broadly
available, including being covered by
the Oregon Health Plan and free to
undocumented immigrants, due to pre-
vious decisions by the Legislature.
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia
Fagan immediately reacted to the news
by reminding people that abortion is
still legal in Oregon.
“It is still your right,” Fagan said.
“You can travel to Oregon to get an
abortion if you need to.”
While Democrats across the state
quickly took to social media to con-
demn the decision, some Oregon
Republicans welcomed the news, prais-
ing the Supreme Court.
Oregon’s Democrat House Speaker
Dan Rayfi eld said, “this will go down
as an incredibly dark day in Ameri-
can history,” while Oregon Republican
congressional candidate Lori Chavez-
DeRemer said she hopes this deci-
sion will now allow Oregon Republi-
can leaders to change the easy access to
abortion services in the state.
Tina Kotek, Oregon’s Demo-
cratic candidate for governor and for-
mer House Speaker, said she is “furi-
ous” at the Supreme Court decision and
“deeply concerned for women around
the country.”
“As your governor, and the only
candidate with the support of Planned
Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, Pro-
Choice Oregon and The Mother PAC, I
will stand up to fi ght for reproductive
freedom. That’s a promise.”
Kotek reminded voters that repro-
ductive freedom is on the ballot in Ore-
gon this year, highlighting the past
voting records of her opponents Repub-
lican candidate Christine Drazan and
independent candidate Betsy Johnson.
Drazan released a short statement
reaffi rming her support for anti-abor-
tion laws.
“Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decision, Oregon will continue to have
among the most extreme abortion laws
in the country and around the world,”
Drazan said. “As governor, I will
stand up for life by vetoing legislation
designed to push Oregon further out-
side the mainstream.”
In the past, Drazan has supported
a measure to block funding for abor-
tion access and sponsored legislation to
criminalize abortion providers.
Johnson reaffi rmed her support for
abortion rights in Oregon saying she is
pro-choice and that “this is a bedrock
issue for me, and frankly, for Oregon.
A fundamental right. As Oregon’s inde-
pendent governor, I will always defend
and protect a woman’s right to choose.”
Kotek said the stakes for Oregon’s
race for governor are crystal clear: “We
can’t let extremists take us backward,”
she said.
The Supreme Court’s decision on
Friday ended constitutional protections
for abortion that had stood in Amer-
ica for nearly a half-century. The deci-
sion by the court’s conservative major-
ity is expected to lead to abortion bans
in roughly half the states.
OREGON CAPITAL
INSIDER
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, speaks as she joins abortion rights activists
as they demonstrate following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday.
The ruling, unthinkable just a few
years ago, was the culmination of
decades of eff orts by abortion oppo-
nents, made possible by an emboldened
right side of the court that has been for-
tifi ed by three appointees of former
President Donald Trump.
Both sides predicted the fi ght over
abortion would continue, in state capi-
tals and in Washington, D.C., and Jus-
tice Clarence Thomas, part of Friday’s
majority, called on the court to over-
turn other high court rulings protecting
same-sex marriage, gay sex and the use
of contraceptives.
Clinics in at least two states, Wis-
consin and West Virginia, stopped
performing abortions after Friday’s
decision.
Abortion foes cheered the ruling,
but abortion rights supporters, includ-
ing President Joe Biden, expressed dis-
may and pledged to fi ght to restore the
rights.
“It’s a sad day for the court and for
the country,” Biden said at the White
House. He urged voters to make it a
defi ning issue in the November elec-
tions, declaring, “This decision must
not be the fi nal word.”
The ruling came more than a month
after the stunning leak of a draft opin-
ion by Justice Samuel Alito indicat-
ing the court was prepared to take this
momentous step.
It puts the court at odds with a major-
ity of Americans who favored preserv-
ing Roe, according to opinion polls.
Rayfi eld said Friday morning that
legislative leaders will take action to
strengthen and improve laws protect-
ing abortion rights in Oregon during
the next legislative session.
“Let’s be clear about the stakes:
The extreme Dobbs decision will make
women and individuals across the
country less safe,” Rayfi eld said. “It
will harm millions of people, most spe-
cifi cally people of color and low-in-
come individuals, and worsen existing
inequality … However, we will not let
our despair at today’s decision over-
whelm our need to work even harder to
protect and expand access to all forms
of reproductive health care.”
It is extremely unlikely that any
new abortion limits would be passed
in Oregon, where Democratic majori-
ties in the Legislature and Democratic
Gov. Kate Brown in 2017 passed a
law that explicitly protects the right to
an abortion in the event that the high
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court were to overturn Roe. Brown and
Kotek have said they view that law
among the signature pieces of legisla-
tion they championed.
House Bill 5202, passed during the
Legislature earlier this year, provided
$15 million to establish what back-
ers named the Oregon Reproductive
Equity Fund. The money will be used
to help patients in parts of Oregon with-
out easy access to reproductive services
obtain abortions by paying for the ser-
vices as well as logistical help includ-
ing lodging and travel. It also could be
used to fund abortions and associated
travel and lodging costs for pregnant
people from Idaho and elsewhere.
When a leaked draft of the court’s
decision allowing states to severely
limit access to abortions went pub-
lic in May, politicians across Oregon
responded, with Democrats who hold
the reins of power vowing to fi ght the
loss of a constitutional right that has
been in place for nearly a half-century.
“This disgraceful Supreme Court
decision will undoubtedly put many
people’s lives at risk, in addition to
stripping away a constitutional right
that disproportionately aff ects women
and has been settled law for most of
our lifetimes,” Brown said. “For all the
Americans today feeling scared, angry,
and disappointed — for everyone who
needs an abortion and does not know
where they can access safe reproduc-
tive health care — please know you are
not alone, and the fi ght is not over.”
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, an
Oregon Democrat, condemned the
decision.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to
overturn abortion rights is infuriat-
ing, heartbreaking, and dangerous,”
Bonamici said. “The decision today
undermines decades of hard-fought
protections for reproductive health
and the right to determine when and
whether to have a child. Make no mis-
take, overturning Roe v. Wade will
not end abortions; it will make them
unsafe.”
Bonamici said she helped the House
pass legislation to put Roe v. Wade into
law in the past and will continue to do
the work needed until everyone can
access safe abortions again.
“This decision will disproportion-
ately hurt families and individuals who
are already struggling, and, unfortu-
nately, it will embolden many states to
restrict access to the care people need,”
she said.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon
Democrat, said the decision marks a
betrayal to the American people by the
Supreme Court.
“These radical j ustices have ensured
American women today have fewer
rights than their grandmothers had
decades ago – rights that have proven
essential to the health, economic par-
ticipation and freedom of people to
control their own bodies,” Wyden said.
“To be clear, the anti-abortion move-
ment won’t stop here. What’s next
is the criminalization of abortion –
women and doctors in jail, or worse.”
Wyden said state and local lead-
ers must take steps to expand access
to abortion and protect the people and
health care providers from the extrem-
ists who are criminalizing it. Wyden
said Congress must also pass legisla-
tion to protect people’s data so their
web searches, text messages and loca-
tion tracking aren’t used against them
to criminalize their search for abortion.
“This is going to be the fi ght of our
lifetime, and I am all in to do what it
takes to protect the right to safe and
legal abortion for generations to come,”
Wyden said.
The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
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