(Oregon Right to Life) — Pro-life Republican lawmakers delivered addresses in the state legislature on Tuesday sharply criticizing Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s proclamation officially honoring abortion providers.
Governor Kotek, a pro-abortion Democrat, signed an official proclamation this month declaring March 10 “Abortion Provider Appreciation Day,” sparking outcry from pro-life advocates.
On Tuesday, two Republican lawmakers delivered remonstrances from the floor of the state House of Representatives rebuking Kotek for the move.
Republican Rep. Court Boice, who represents Oregon’s House District 1, condemned the “explicit celebration of an industry that profits from the vulnerability of women and the termination of unborn life.”
READ: Oregon Governor Tina Kotek Declares March 10 ‘Abortion Provider Appreciation Day’
“Oregon has long prided itself on inclusivity, compassion, and care for the vulnerable,” he said. “Yet, the most vulnerable among us—the unborn—are excluded from that protection.”
“The message we send matters. Declaring an official day to honor abortion providers signals what Oregon values,” Boice continued. “It minimizes the thousands of men and women in our state who regret their abortions. It diminishes the brave mothers who make an adoption plan. And it dismisses the many Oregonians who believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life.”
Rep. Boice argued that the Oregon government ought to “honor those who provide real hope,” including “those who walk alongside expectant mothers, offering life-affirming care and tangible solutions.” He pointed out that abortion, rather than “an act to be celebrated,” is actually “a tragedy, often rooted in desperation, fear, and a lack of real support for women in crisis.”
“Instead of using the power of her office to uplift those who foster life, Governor Kotek chooses to celebrate those who take it away,” Rep. Boice said.
While he acknowledged differences of opinion on the abortion issue among his colleagues, Boice shared his hope that all could “take a moment to reflect on the messages we choose to send and the culture we seek to create in this state.”
“No matter the laws we hold, the Oregon I want to see is one where women are truly supported—not left to feel that abortion is their only option,” he said.
Immediately after his remonstrance, Republican Rep. Dwayne Yunker also delivered an address expressing “outrage” about the “appalling” declaration.
“Instead of protecting the most vulnerable among us, the state has chosen to celebrate the destruction of innocent life,” he said. Yunker noted that Oregon’s lack of any laws protecting unborn life have made it an “abortion tourism” destination for women from other states, triggering a 60% increase in the rate of abortions performed in Oregon for out-of-state mothers.
He also criticized Portland’s downtown abortion facility “Lilith Clinic” that performs late-term abortions, and argued that Oregon has “turned a blind eye to the pain, the regret, the irreversible loss suffered by thousands of women who walk into clinics like Lillith forever changed.”
“Mr. Speaker, this is not progress. This is not compassion. This is not justice. This is a tragedy, one which history will remember with shame,” Yunker said. “And I, for one, refuse to stand by in silence as Oregon parades this darkness as virtue.”
The remarks by lawmakers come come after Governor Kotek made national headlines for the controversial proclamation, with pro-life commentators and prominent pro-life figures in Oregon speaking out against the official action.
In a video press release posted to social media, Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson called the governor’s proclamation “appalling.”
“Abortion ends the life of a growing human being and places women at risk of serious mental, emotional, and physical health outcomes. That’s just not health care,” Anderson said. “And it’s nothing to celebrate.”
Portland’s Catholic Archbishop Alexander Sample also responded to the governor’s declaration with a pastoral letter.
READ: Portland Archbishop Responds to Gov. Kotek’s ‘Abortion Provider Appreciation Day’ Declaration
“The language of ‘rights’ and ‘freedom’ in these conversations sounds noble. But strip away the rhetoric, and what’s left?” Archbishop Sample wrote. “A world where the strong decide the fate of the weak. Where those with power have permission to eliminate those without it. Where human worth is conditional – based on ability, autonomy, wantedness,” he said. “A return to humanity’s oldest, darkest impulse: might makes right.”
The archbishop urged Oregonians to “choose life. Not just biologically, but spiritually.”
“Choose to see reality as it truly is. To embrace the mystery, the beauty, the wonder of existence itself,” he said. “Because life – every life – is a gift. And a world that forgets that is a world that has lost its soul.”
Oregon Right to Life believes in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. Abortion ends the life of a genetically distinct, growing human being. We oppose abortion at any point of gestation. In rare cases, a mother may have a life threatening condition in which medical procedures intended to treat the condition of the mother may result in the unintended death of her preborn baby. At the same time, ORTL recognizes that modern medical practice has and will continue to increase the ability to save both the life of the mother and the baby. Read this and all our position statements here.
