Oregon Republican state senators are boycotting and ultimately stalling floor sessions in response to far-left legislation that would allow minors to have abortions and access transgender drugs and procedures without parental consent in the state.
Tuesday marked day 11 of the lawmakers’ walkout — a significant milestone given that a new state law, Measure 113, prevents lawmakers with at least ten unexcused absences from being reelected.
Four state senators so far have surpassed the ten-day threshold, and six more senators are “set to reach that mark by Thursday,” according to local KATU reporter Christina Giardinelli.
As LifeNews reported, Oregon Republicans first walked out in protest of the radical bill, HB 2002B, on May 3 and have “continued to deny quorum to pro-abortion Democrat leaders since then. A quorum requires a two-thirds majority.” Republicans also walked out due to a 1979 law rediscovered by a GOP Senate staffer that requires bill summaries to be written at an eighth-grade level,” the Associated Press reported.
The Republicans appear to be “settling in for a longer standoff,” according to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).
“The Senate GOP started a new political action committee last week, Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund, to fundraise off the walkout. The committee was formed May 10, the same day as an initial round of negotiations between the two parties,” the report states.
The report continues:
The 13 in the PAC’s name refers to the 12 Senate Republicans and lone Independent who’ve participated in the boycott. Bryan Iverson, a Senate Republican staffer who is running the political committee, said any money raised will be used on communications with voters and launching a legal challenge to Measure 113, the new law preventing absent lawmakers from running for reelection. The PAC has asked elections officials for a formal opinion on whether the money can be used in that legal fight.
Republicans and Democrats held five formal meetings last week; however, Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp issued a statement saying Democrats did not negotiate in “good faith.”
“I conveyed in discussions over the weekend that Senate Republicans will end their protest to pass substantially bipartisan budgets and bills that are lawful and constitutional and that will benefit all Oregonians,” Knopp said in a statement on Monday. “Democrats are instead using their slim majority to justify moving forward with an extreme, unlawful, and unconstitutional agenda.”
“If Democrats thought we would facilitate an agenda that intentionally removes the right of parents, they were seriously mistaken,” added Deputy Leader Daniel Bonham, one of the Republicans who has reached the ten-day threshold. “Democrats have gone too far.”
The Greater Idaho movement, which is an effort by some eastern counties in Oregon to leave the state and become part of Idaho, praised the walkout in a tweet on Tuesday.
“Rural Oregon will keep electing more kamikazee Republicans who are willing to bring the Oregon Legislature to a halt every year if that’s what it takes to block unacceptable laws from being passed,” the movement said. “If you don’t like that, then let us join Idaho, and w. OR can have a bluer blue state.”
HB 2002B allows girls of any age to get abortions without informing their parents, unless the girl gives written permission for her parents to be informed. The bill also eliminates the crime of “concealing the birth of an infant,” and allows minors to access sex-change hormones, puberty blockers, and sex-change procedures, covered by their parents’ insurance plans but without parental consent.
An attorney for the Oregon Legislature notably confirmed during an April House committee meeting that a 10-year-old girl or a “minor of any age” would be able to have an abortion without parental consent if the bill is passed.
LifeNews noted that the state already has “very few restrictions on abortion.”
“[I]ts governor has been working with leaders in Washington and California to expand elective abortions even more, including by devoting millions of taxpayer dollars to destroying unborn babies’ lives. Last year, the state legislature approved $15 million to pay for women in and out of state to travel for abortions and increase the number of abortion facilities in the state,” according to the report.
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