Oregon needs to strengthen its laws to protect doctors who provide abortion and gender reassignment medicine from prosecution and lawsuits, a legislative task force recommended Wednesday.
This is one of several recommendations from the Access to Reproductive Health and Care Workgroup. The workgroup was convened by House Speaker Dan Layfield this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending abortion rights. The procedure is still legal in Oregon, but as Layfield told the legislative committee on Wednesday, having an abortion legal does not guarantee care.
“Oregonians are unequivocal in their support for making abortion and other care safe and accessible to all,” Layfield said. “But let me be clear, the right to access abortion does not mean access to abortion care.”
The workgroup found that three-quarters of Oregon counties have no abortion providers, and about 30% of the state’s hospital beds are exempt from providing abortions, contraceptives, and other reproductive health care. I found it in a Catholic hospital.
Eastern Oregon women who previously traveled to Boise or Meridian for abortions can no longer do so due to a ban recently enacted in Idaho. Demand is growing not only from restricted women in Idaho and other states, but also from Oregon residents.
“We now border with Idaho, which has a near-total ban on abortion,” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum told the commission. “There is no doubt that banning abortion puts health – and lives – at risk.”
The workgroup’s 22-page report, released Wednesday afternoon, called for additional training for community health workers and an update to the state’s web page to help those who need abortion and gender-affirming care. We make sure we know our rights and where to get care.
It also seeks an unspecified amount of legislative funding for incentives to healthcare providers, medical personnel, and residents who need to travel to Oregon for training. In Congress this year, lawmakers approved her $15 million for abortion care for Oregonians, out-of-state residents and health care providers.
Rep. Andrea Valderrama said the report revealed problems seen every day in communities in eastern Portland. Valderrama, a Democrat, initially ran for board in the David Douglas School District because her school district has the highest rate of sexually transmitted infections in the state. After passing, these rates have declined.
She said legislators must take action to ensure that Oregonians have access to services in their communities. We found that we traveled 350 miles in the
“What do these people do when they can’t afford gas to drive 350 miles or have kids at home who need gas? said Valderrama.
The report also calls for increased state mandates for reproductive health insurance. The state’s Reproductive Health Equity Act of 2017 mandates free care for patients, including abortion, screening, and contraception. audit this summer We have found that many insurers do not follow the law.
Some insurers don’t have to. Since the federal Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion, federal employees and those covered by the Indian Health Service or the Department of Veterans Affairs are independent.
Religious insurers such as Providence Health Plans are exempt, and some self-funded group plans are not required to provide abortion coverage.Republicans hold majority on Deschutes County Commission repeated refusals Add abortion coverage to health insurance for the county’s more than 1,000 employees.
The workgroup report will fund and empower the Oregon Department of Health to expand reproductive health care coverage to Oregonians who are not insured through insurance companies, and to ensure that local governments such as Deschutes County follow the law. It seeks to eliminate loopholes that allow the avoidance of .
legal protection
Some of the recommendations are intended to protect Oregon-based health care providers from legal consequences from states that have banned abortion. This includes malpractice insurers denying or revoking coverage or imposing penalties or fee increases based on providing abortion or gender-confirming care in a manner consistent with Oregon law. including prohibiting you from
The group recommended banning the Oregon Licensing Board from suspending a health care provider’s license to provide legal health care in Oregon. Congress passed a law codifying Gov. Kate Brown’s commitment not to extradite people who have provided legal medical services to those who have provided unlawful medical services, and that future governors will have the discretionary power to extradite individuals in such cases. want to ban it.
Another recommended law explicitly prohibits Oregon prosecutors from prosecuting abortion-related prosecutions, including those who have had an abortion or have had a miscarriage or stillbirth. Although it states that there is, it does not expressly prohibit prosecution.
Rosenblum promised the attorney general’s office would defend access to abortion and gender-affirming care.
“We at the Oregon Department of Justice will never stop defending your rights,” she said. “Access to abortion is still legal in Oregon. We’re not going back to the days when politicians were telling us what to do with our bodies.”
Advocates are seeking state funding, an unknown amount, to help pay legal costs if health care providers or abortion recipients are prosecuted or sued by other states. increase.
The group also recommended that the state enforce Oregon’s illicit trade practices law against so-called “critical pregnancy centers.” There are only 13 clinics.
Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-Roseburg, questioned whether the enforcement could violate the free speech of those who run emergency pregnancy centers. Is not …
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