Friday, July 7, 2017
Oregon Takes A Monumental Step To Protect Abortion Rights, Because It's Health Care
Romper (July 5, 2017): Oregon Takes A Monumental Step To Protect Abortion Rights, Because It's Health Care, by Jen McGuire
Oregon, the only state that currently does not enforce any regulations on abortion access, is on the brink of passing more legislation to protect abortion rights. If signed by Governor Kate Brown, this law would provide free abortions and postnatal care to all women in the state of Oregon including undocumented immigrant women. State Representative Julie Fahey sponsored this bill to ensure that a women's right to an abortion and access to health care will not be affected in Oregon regardless of any laws passed or repealed at the federal level. Currently, Senate Republicans are working on a health care bill that could potentially allow states to opt out of requiring insurance companies to pay for certain essential health care benefits. Oregon would be the fifth state to pass legislation protection abortion access as a precautionary measure if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Governor Brown is expected to review the bill soon, but could face opposition from state Republicans. Jonathan Lockwood, the spokesperson for the Oregon Senate Republican Conference, was quoted explaining how he does not believe that Oregonians are okay with funding "late-term, sex-selective abortions" and that this bill is "nothing more than a political gift card to Planned Parenthood." McGuire noted, however, that neither of these statements is true; 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks and sex-selective abortions simply do not happen.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/reproductive_rights/2017/07/oregon-takes-a-monumental-step-to-protect-abortion-rights-because-its-health-care.html