Salem, OR – On Monday, Oregon’s Democratic Governor Tina Kotek signed a proclamation declaring March 10 “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.”
“Here in Oregon, we understand that abortion is health care, and providers are appreciated and can continue to provide care without interference and intimidation,” Governor Kotek said.
Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson responded to the proclamation, calling it “unsurprising but appalling.”
“There is nothing to celebrate about an industry that profits from taking advantage of vulnerable women and ending the lives of innocent human beings under the guise of ‘health care,’” Anderson said. “Oregon Democrats’ continued obsession with abortion until birth is honestly disturbing.”
Surgical abortions involve the killing of a developing human fetus through suctioning, induced cardiac arrest, poisoning, or dismemberment, and the subsequent removal of the body using metal tools or vacuums. In chemical abortions, the tiny human being is starved of the growth hormone progesterone, and then contractions are induced to expel the body from the womb.
Oregon abortion providers at facilities like Lilith Clinic and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) – representatives of which attended the signing of Kotek’s proclamation – perform abortions well past fetal “viability,” when an unborn baby can survive outside the womb. According to Abortion Finder, OHSU performs abortions through 34 weeks gestation. Asked about late-term abortions, Alison Edelman, an abortion provider at Portland’s Lilith Clinic abortion facility, stated to lawmakers last year that providers perform abortions “under the law,” and that if a woman is requesting it, they will “provide the 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 as young as 15.
“Under Governor Kotek’s watch, late-term abortions have more than doubled in our state,” Anderson said. “Abortion ends the life of a growing human being and places women at risk of serious mental, emotional, and physical health outcomes. That’s not health care.”
Kotek’s proclamation is the latest in a series of moves by the Democratic governor to expand abortion statewide, including by increasing Oregon’s stockpile of dangerous abortion pills following the November 5 election and joining a pro-abortion coalition with California and Washington following the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court ruling ending Roe v. Wade. Those moves come as abortion rates have risen dramatically in Oregon according to updated reports.
In 2023, a total of 10,075 abortions were performed in Oregon, up 16.2% from the 8,672 performed in 2022. 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. The number of women traveling to Oregon from other states for abortions jumped 60% in 2023 compared with the prior year.
According to a recent Knights of Columbus-Marist survey, the majority of Americans do not agree with laws permitting abortion up to the moment of birth. 72% of people polled nationwide 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.
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