Salem, Ore. – On Monday, Oregon’s pro-abortion Democratic Governor Tina Kotek announced she is expanding the state’s supply of the dangerous abortion pill mifepristone in response to Donald Trump’s November 5 reelection.
In April, 2023, Gov. Kotek worked with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to stockpile a three-year supply of “emergency” mifepristone, the governor’s office said in a press release. Now, that cache has been increased and the expiration extended to September, 2028.
In the Monday announcement, Kotek argued that “Oregon is not immune from federal attacks on our reproductive rights.”
“Kotek’s decision to increase Oregon’s stockpile of this dangerous drug serves no purpose but to promote the false and harmful notion that abortion is both a necessary component of women’s healthcare and one that is at risk in our state,” Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson said. “Abortion is tragically legal up to the moment of birth in Oregon for any reason. As pro-life advocates, we obviously hope that the incoming administration will take action to protect the unborn. But given Trump’s comments on the matter, we don’t expect he would pursue the federal ban that Governor Kotek apparently fears.”
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly stated he would not back a federal abortion ban. He also evinced support for legal access to mifepristone after the U.S. Supreme Court this year rejected a case challenging the loosening of FDA regulations on the drug.
Today, chemical abortions have become the most common abortion method in the U.S., accounting for over 60% of abortions last year. That rise in popularity comes in spite of the risks posed to the pregnant women who consume them, not to mention their lethality for the unborn human lives they target. A 2009 study from Finland found that chemical abortions were associated with an adverse reaction rate four times that of surgical abortions, including an increased risk of hemorrhage and incomplete abortion. And per the FDA, roughly 85% of women who take the abortion pill regimen report at least one adverse reaction. In 2022, two Georgia women died after taking the abortion pill when they suffered incomplete abortions (a known risk) and contracted sepsis.
“Kotek’s rhetoric and actions obscure the fact that mifepristone is dangerous for women and deadly for the unborn,” Anderson said. “The Oregon government should be informing women about these risks instead of stockpiling the drugs and ginning up anxiety.”
“For our part, Oregon Right to Life will continue to raise awareness about the reality of chemical abortion and ensure that pregnant women are connected with real, life-affirming resources, including Abortion Pill Reversal treatment for women who regret taking mifepristone and want to save the precious life they carry.”
For media inquiries or interviews, please contact ORTL communications director Ashley Sadler at 530-859-1957 or ashley@ortl.org.
