DPO asks Buehler, Carpenter, and Wooldridge to take stance on extreme abortion bill
PORTLAND — Following last week’s news that Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has signed the strictest abortion law in the nation, the Democratic Party of Oregon is calling on the GOP gubernatorial frontrunners to answer if they would sign such a bill if it landed on their desk as Governor.
“Laws protecting a woman’s right to chose are under attack all over the nation,” said Jeanne Atkins, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “Republicans are proudly leading these rollbacks on reproductive choice and Oregonians deserve to know if Buehler, Carpenter, and Wooldridge would support this latest attack on women’s health.”
The Iowa bill, also called a fetal ‘heartbeat’ bill, bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat has been detected, usually at about six weeks of pregnancy. This deadline will prohibit abortions before women may even realize they are pregnant.
Of the three Republican gubernatorial hopefuls, they all share an anti-choice record:
- Knute Buehler voted against access to safe and legal abortion in his one and only vote on the topic as a legislator. He also met with and accepted the support of Oregon Right to Life during his 2014 election campaign.
- Sam Carpenter has repeatedly and vocally publicized his opposition to a woman’s right to choose on his campaign website.
- Without a record to run on, Greg Wooldridge has now cozied up with the far right, boasting of his endorsement by Oregon Right to Life.
“We know that right-wing Republicans have overturning Roe v. Wade at the top of their legislative agendas,” said Atkins. “Oregon’s GOP candidates for governor need to be clear on where they stand on a women’s right to choose.”
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