Abortion expansion bill (HB 3391) moves to Oregon House for vote

(UPDATE: HB 3391-B passed out of the House on Saturday, July 1.  It is expected to be voted on by the full Senate soon.)

Salem, OR–Last night the Joint Committee on Ways and Means passed out House Bill 3391-B to the full House for a vote.

“The Democrat majority in the Legislature is clearly working to reward one of their primary campaign supporters, Planned Parenthood, which stands to financially benefit from HB 3391-B,” said Gayle Atteberry, ORTL executive director.

HB 3391-B, Planned Parenthood’s flagship legislation this session, is being pushed at a time when Planned Parenthood is doubling down on their core industry by providing more abortions and less care for women.

“This terrible legislation is just another example of how Oregon’s largest abortion provider’s only real concern is for their financial bottom line,” said Atteberry.  “The Oregon Health Authority testified last night that HB 3391-B will provide almost $500,000 more for abortions.  Make no mistake: most of this money is going to Planned Parenthood.”

HB 3391-B will:

• Force health benefit plans offered in Oregon to cover abortions with no co-pays.
• Allow Providence Health Plan to continue providing insurance without covering abortions, but also create a new program that will provide free abortions to Providence plan enrollees.  The cost for this program is unspecified.
• Spend almost $500,000 more on abortions for individuals who would be eligible for Medicaid except for their immigration status.
• Mandate that any future health insurance companies cover abortions with no co-pays, regardless of their religious convictions.
• Jeopardize federal funding by violating the Weldon Amendment, which is a piece of federal law that has been included in every Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bill enacted since 2004 and specifically prohibits what House Bill 3391 would do.
• Put churches and other organizations that have deeply held beliefs in the position of violating those beliefs.

The bill’s sponsors have not addressed critical questions about the bill, including:

• What will be the cost for the new state program to provide free abortions for Providence Health Plan enrollees?
• How much will insurance rates spike by forcing all insurance plans to cover abortions with no co-pays or deductibles?
• What steps can be taken to prevent the federal government from cutting off all funding to Oregon in response to passing a state law that violates federal law?

HB 3391-B is expected to be voted on by the full House of Representatives tomorrow, July 1st.

For media inquiries, please contact Liberty Pike, ORTL communications director, at liberty@ortl.org.

To ask your elected officials to vote no on HB 3391, please click here.