Disclaimer: Molly Newhard is the fundraising chair of the Lane County Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon volunteer team. My views are my own and do not reflect the views of The Torch or Lane Community College
The leaked Supreme Court draft opinion telegraphs SCOTUS’s intention to overturn an almost 50-year-old legal precedent. With no federally codified law, abortion rights in this country have been declining rapidly in the past few years. At least 26 states are set to ban abortion outright or limit it severly if this draft opinion overturning Roe V Wade becomes official precedent. Luckily, Oregon is not one of those states. Oregon has codified abortion protections, with no restrictions, into state law.
While Oregon does have these protections, access is not guaranteed for everyone. Whether it’s geography, the Hyde Amendment (a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion), or a lack of providers, abortion access remains unequitable. Oregon is far better than many other states but we still have lots of work to do.
While Oregon is mostly safe from the fall out of Roe, our neighboring states do not have the same level of protections. Senate Bill 1309 in Idaho is a fetal heartbeat bill similar to Texas’s. It seeks to ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually about six weeks. There are allowances for instances of rape or incest. But a super fun little kicker in this bill is that to qualify for an exemption due to rape, the patient must file a report with the police. The copy of that report has to be given to the physician before the procedure can take place. Anyone who has seen a single episode of Law & Order: SVU, or dealt with the police after a sexual assault, knows what a daunting requirement that is. The point: this four page bill will cause an influx of people seeking abortions in Oregon.
Organizations like Planned Parenthood, Cascade Abortion Support Collective and Northwest Abortion Access Fund have been preparing for this. The writing’s on the wall when it comes to Republicans and abortions. The hive mind of that party has been singularaly focused on ending abortion in all situations since the 1980s. These organizations are always looking for volunteers and donations. But alongside activism comes another civic duty: voting. I know a lot of us are tired of voting and not seeing anything change, but voting is what made Oregon a safe place for reproductive rights. This state makes it easy for you to! Just fill out a form and find your nearest drop box.
I’ve never personally had an abortion, but people I love have. We ALL know someone who has had an abortion, and every story is different. Every story is personal and more importantly, none of those stories are anyone else’s business.
