WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2022
150TH YEAR, NO. 28
$1.50
Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo
The lack of housing units and child care
options are defining problems on the
North Coast.
County
identifies
more land
for housing
Surplus lots could
also go for child care
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
Clatsop County has identified more
surplus land that could be used for hous-
ing, child care and social services.
One lot is in Warrenton, another is in
Gearhart, and 14 are in South County’s
unincorporated Arch Cape community.
The Warrenton lot is about a quarter
acre on Third Avenue, just east of Fort
Stevens State Park.
The Gearhart property, a smaller one, is on
Kershul Circle, west of U.S. Highway 101.
The lots in Arch Cape cover 11 acres
east of Highway 101. They are zoned res-
idential and could be rezoned for multi-
family dwellings, according to Monica
Steele, the assistant county manager.
The land falls within the Arch Cape
water and sanitary districts.
“From (an) affordability perspective,
not having to create a septic system and
such — that is a good thing,” Steele said at
a regional housing task force meeting held
at the Bob Chisholm Community Center
in Seaside on Wednesday.
A PAINFUL REMINDER
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A candlelight vigil to remember people who have died from drug overdoses was held at an International Overdose Awareness Day
event at the Barbey Maritime Center on Wednesday evening. The event was hosted by the Clatsop County Public Health Department.
See Land, Page A6
Abortion divides state House and Senate contenders
A split along party lines
SENATE DISTRICT 16
HOUSE DISTRICT 32
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling
to overturn Roe v. Wade, the land-
mark decision that recognized a con-
stitutional right to abortion, vaulted
reproductive rights into the Novem-
ber election.
In Oregon, where abortion
remains protected under state law,
Democrats have called for expanded
access to reproductive health care,
while many Republicans have
sought to temper their opposition to
abortion rights with exceptions for
medical emergencies or pregnancies
from rape or incest.
A survey by the Oregon Values
and Beliefs Center found that 72%
of people interviewed thought abor-
tion should be legal in all or most
cases. Support for abortion was
highest early in pregnancy, the sur-
vey showed, but declined to 44% in
the second trimester.
Nearly half — 46% — said the
Supreme Court ruling would not
change their voting behavior in
November, but the 44% who said it
would change their behavior were 10
times more likely than less likely to
vote. The online survey, conducted
among 1,572 residents statewide
from July 8 to July 16, had a margin
of error of 2.47 percentage points.
On the North Coast, where there
are competitive open seats for the
state House and Senate, the contend-
ers are divided along party lines.
Senate District 16
Melissa Busch, a home health
nurse from Warren campaigning for
Melissa Busch
State Rep. Suzanne Weber
state Senate, said reproductive health
care should be available to everyone
“just like any other form of health
care.”
The Democrat called the Supreme
Court’s ruling a “slap in the face.”
“As a legislator, I absolutely
would continue to protect the laws
that we already have on the books.
We have very strong protections in
place in Oregon and those are things
that are really good groundwork,”
she said. “But I also know that, with
the way that the national climate
is around reproductive health care
access, that we also need to make
sure that Oregon is a place where all
people are able to access care.”
The Astorian has reported that
rural counties, like Clatsop County,
are especially lacking in abortion
services, creating barriers that can
complicate health care choices.
“I think now is more critical than
certainly any time in my lifetime
and really arguably more critical
than ever before that we’re making
sure that state legislatures like ours
in Oregon continues to have strong,
pro-choice champions that believe in
our bodily autonomy and our free-
dom to make decisions for our bod-
ies and our families,” Busch said.
Cyrus Javadi
State Rep. Suzanne Weber, a Til-
lamook Republican who is giving
up her House seat to run for Senate,
said she does not anticipate abortion
coming before the Legislature next
session.
“We have too many other issues
that need to come before us,” she
said. “I also know that if it does
come before us, that my way of
looking at legislation is to do the
research dependent upon whatever
piece of legislation is brought for-
ward to examine the consequences,
to look at science and to then make
a decision.”
Weber, who describes herself as
“pro-life,” said any decision on abor-
tion would also be based on what she
Logan Laity
hears from her constituents. She said
the issue has not been a frequent
topic of conversation on the cam-
paign trail.
Weber indicated she would not
support a complete ban on abortion.
“Like all pro-life advocates, I
think we certainly need to have rea-
sonable expectations for saving a
mother’s life in emergencies and we
need to ensure that women can get
emergency health without worry,”
she said.
There was some confusion about
Weber’s stance on abortion after a
candidates’ forum at Clatsop Com-
munity College in Astoria in April.
She said at the forum that she was
“pro-choice from conception to nat-
ural death.”
Weber has since explained that
she misspoke.
“That was a dumb thing to say
when I’m not (pro-choice),” she
said. “I don’t know why I said it. It
was just a slip of the tongue, because
it’s not what I believe.”
House District 32
Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook den-
tist campaigning for state House,
said he is “pro-life because I agree
that we should consider the life of
the unborn.”
While Javadi supported the
Supreme Court’s decision to over-
turn Roe v. Wade, citing the impor-
tance of state control over the issue,
he does not oppose abortion in all
circumstances.
“I think where that gets tricky is
it’s a deeply personal decision,” he
said. “And I respect the decision the
people make with guidance from
family, religion or their doctor and
I think there has to be some space
for people to make that choice while
still respecting the rights of the
unborn.”
Javadi said he views abortion
as acceptable when the life of the
mother is at risk and “maybe in
cases of incest or molest, or rape —
there are definitely some arguments
that could be made there. But, again,
I think we have to create that space
for those individuals but be careful
to not make it so black and white
that we get some bad policy out of
it.”
Javadi believes “it’s import-
ant to have a conversation about
this in Salem, because I think it’s
a topic that means a lot to people
on both sides of the debate. And I
think we can come up with a solu-
tion that makes sense if we actually
can engage in a conversation about
it rather than just one side dictating
how it’s going to work and what it’s
going to be like.”
Logan Laity, a small-business
owner and community organizer in
Tillamook trying to flip the House
seat back to the Democrats, said
the Legislature has an obligation to
ensure that Oregonians have access
to the best health care standards.
“If we don’t vote pro-choice in
this election, we could lose decades
of reproductive freedoms here in
Oregon that we fought for for so
long,” he said. “It’s not just keeping
See Abortion, Page A6