Oregon leaders often praise the state鈥檚 strong protection of reproductive rights, which is codified in the state鈥檚 constitution. But most of the Republican candidates for governor say they would work to reduce those protections if the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade.
In responses to a candidate questionnaire sent this spring by OPB, five candidates 鈥� ,, , and 鈥� said they would pursue new restrictions on abortions in Oregon. None went into depth about what that would look like.
Four others 鈥� , , and 鈥� said they would support a voter referendum to remove abortion protections within Oregon鈥檚 constitution.
Only one, , the founder and CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices, said she wouldn鈥檛 pursue any new restrictions on reproductive health.
And in a debate hosted Tuesday by the , the topic of what happens if Roe goes away emerged as one of the cardinal issues for the GOP candidates. They spent more than 10 minutes of the 90-minute forum debating news that the U.S. Supreme Court might be on the verge of overturning the Roe decision and the impact in Oregon.
Four front runners 鈥� Jessica Gomez, Bud Pierce, Stan Pulliam and Bridget Barton 鈥� were asked what the new decision means for their plans as governor.
Gomez doubled down, saying she鈥檚 firmly 鈥減ro-choice鈥� and stands behind abortion being a constitutionally protected right. She does, however, stand against using Oregon tax dollars to help pregnant people from other states access abortions here.
Oncologist and 2016 GOP nominee Bud Pierce described himself as 鈥減ro life,鈥� but said he believes in obeying federal and state law and would rather focus efforts on supporting pregnant people with child care and education so they feel less pressure to pursue an abortion.
鈥淢y effort will be on supporting women who are pregnant so that they鈥檒l want to continue their pregnancy if they so desire,鈥� Pierce said.
Pierce was pressed in the debate for what a moderator described as 鈥渇lip-flopping鈥� on the question of abortion; in his 2016 campaign, he said he supported the state鈥檚 policies of access to reprodructive health care. Pierce said he did not flip flop, but reevaluated his position following his wife鈥檚 2020 death.
Bridget Barton, a conservative author and political consultant, said she supports the high court鈥檚 apparent forthcoming decision, and disagrees with the state鈥檚 current policies.
She said she鈥檇 walk back funding set aside by the Oregon Legislature that helps people in Oregon and from other states access abortions here. State lawmakers recently for the state鈥檚 Reproductive Health Equity Fund in response to new laws or efforts to restrict access in states like Texas, Idaho, Mississippi and Florida.
鈥淢illions of dollars allocated for what we鈥檙e now referring to as 鈥榓bortion vacations鈥� for people outside the state to come in here and use our taxpayer dollars for their abortions,鈥� she said. 鈥溾�滿ost Oregonians I believe don鈥檛 agree with that.鈥�
Stan Pulliam, the mayor of Sandy, offered the most aggressive opinion in terms of restricting access to abortion. He released a statement Tuesday saying, 鈥淚鈥檝e waited for this moment my whole life.鈥�
In the debate, he attacked his opponents for being, in his view, too progressive on their views on reproductive rights. He noted that he was not endorsed by the advocacy group Oregon Right to Life, which : Pierce, former House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, Barton and Tiernan.
鈥淚 hope Oregon Right to Life, their board, their funders, and activists are watching this debate,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese answers are a complete embarrassment for anyone who鈥檚 received the Oregon Right to Life endorsement.鈥�
Pulliam said he would sign any law 鈥減ro-life piece of legislation.鈥� (The chances of such legislation reaching any governor鈥檚 desk remain quite slim given the Democratic Party鈥檚 firm hold on both chambers of the Oregon Legislature.)
Pulliam went on to criticize Christine Drazan, a fellow Republican frontrunner candidate and former Oregon House minority leader, specifically for her views on reproductive rights.
鈥淚 think Oregon Right to Life, on the heels of the televised debate last week, with a watered down answer from Christine Drazan where she said she would only veto deals that extended abortion access鈥� they should re-look at their endorsement,鈥� Pulliam said.
Drazan dropped out of the City Club of Portland/KGW debate Tuesday just hours before it was set to begin. Her campaign staff noted that she has participated in several debates and public forums, including two televised debates in recent weeks.
Drazan鈥檚 campaign did not immediately respond to OPB鈥檚 request for comment on her views on reproductive rights and abortion access. She declined to fill out the issue questionnaire sent out by OPB this spring, and she did not respond to requests to discuss her campaign and talk about the issues on OPB鈥檚 Think Out Loud.
The two most prominent Democratic candidates for governor, State Treasurer Tobias Read and former Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek, both support Oregon鈥檚 current abortion protections. Betsy Johnson, a longtime state legislator who is attempting to collect enough signatures to make the November general election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate, has also said she backs Oregon鈥檚 existing laws.
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