'For Governor Kotek, 'Oregon Values' include late term abortions, irreversible 'gender affirming' procedures on children, men in women's sport and safe spaces, extreme climate policies, and harboring violent criminals. Wrong,' responded Republican state Representative Ed Diehl.
(Oregon Right to Life) — Oregon’s pro-abortion Democratic governor earned pushback from a pro-life Republican state lawmaker over the weekend for a social media message pledging to protect “Oregon values,” including abortion access. Oregon is one of the most radical states in the country on the issue of abortion.
“My commitment to standing up for Oregon and Oregon values is unwavering,” Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek said in a recorded message posted to social media Friday. “I will not back down from a fight.”
The pro-abortion governor, who responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s November 5 re-election by increasing the state’s stockpile of dangerous abortion pills, then named a series of progressive political priorities, including “access to reproductive and gender-affirming care.” Abortion is currently legal up to the moment of birth in Oregon, with no gestational limits, mandatory waiting periods, or even parental notification requirements for girls ages 15 and up.
Pro-life Republican state Representative Ed Diehl, who won his re-election bid in November with the support and endorsement of Oregon Right to Life PAC, blasted Gov. Kotek for the comments in his own X post on Saturday.
In the post, Diehl slammed the governor for interpreting “Oregon Values” to “include late term abortions,” and reaffirmed his support for “The Real Oregon Values, and the ones I defend every day in the legislature,” including the “Dignity of human life.”
A recent Knights of Columbus-Marist poll found that 72% of people polled believe abortion should only be legal through six months of pregnancy at most, and 67% reject a position that would put no limits at all on abortion. The results pit Oregon’s limitless abortion landscape at odds with the perspectives of the majority of Americans.
Meanwhile, Kotek’s comments about securing “Oregon values” come shortly after her counterpart in Washington State, the newly-elected Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson, signed an executive order shortly after his inauguration directing the Washington State Department of Health to work with medical and abortion providers, along with policy makers, to “recommend strategies for protecting reproductive health care,” KOIN reported.
“[I]t is the longstanding public policy of this state to promote access to affordable, high-quality sexual and reproductive health care,” Ferguson’s order states, adding that “all people deserve to make their own decisions about their pregnancies, including deciding to end a pregnancy,” and that abortion access “is of paramount importance for individual and public health.”
Abortion is presently legal up to 24 weeks gestation in Washington, or roughly the age of “viability” – when the unborn baby can survive outside the womb – but vague exceptions for the “life and health” of the mother make abortion legal in practice up to the moment of birth.
Washington, like Oregon, has seen an increase in women traveling from out of state following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v Wade. A 2024 JAMA study, found that Washington experienced a 50% increase in women traveling from out of state for abortions.
In Oregon, the number of women traveling to Oregon from other states for abortions rose 60% in 2023 compared with the prior year. Including abortions for Oregon residents and women traveling from out of state, overall abortions in Oregon increased 16.2%, and more than two and a half times the number of late-term abortions (abortions performed at or after 23 weeks) took place in 2023 compared to 2022.
In response, pro-life advocates are continuing to promote the availability of life-affirming resources and alternatives for abortion-vulnerable moms and families statewide. Pro-life state lawmakers, like Diehl, have introduced and are supporting legislation that would, among other things, protect babies who survive abortions as well as pain-capable babies 15 weeks gestation and older.
All pro-life legislation, including in states like Idaho and Texas, clearly distinguish between abortions explicitly intended to end an innocent human life and those medical interventions – like ectopic pregnancy care or miscarriage care – that are fundamentally necessary to preserve the life of the mother. No state outlaws necessary medical treatments for pregnant women.
