Oregon lawmakers have passed a sweeping bill to protect abortion and gender-affirming health care for transgender people by expanding access and insurance coverage while boosting legal safeguards. The Democrats in the House passed the bill in a party-line vote that lasted for roughly six hours after Republicans sought to stall it. The bill addresses topics ranging from minors’ access to abortion to emergency contraception at university student health centers to insurance coverage for gender-affirming care procedures.
The bill would implement a wide-ranging series of measures, including shielding patients and providers from lawsuits originating in states where abortion and gender-affirming care are now restricted. It would also require public universities and community colleges with student health centers to provide emergency contraception and medication abortion.
The most contentious parts of the proposal have to do with minors. Under the legislation, doctors would be allowed to provide an abortion to anyone regardless of age, and it would bar them in certain cases from disclosing that to parents. Democratic lawmakers have said such scenarios are rare, but critics said this could exclude parents from key aspects of their child’s health care.
The bill is the result of a year-long collaboration between dozens of legislators and stakeholders, including patients, providers, advocates, community groups, and legal experts. It protects, strengthens, and expands safe, equitable access to reproductive and gender-affirming care—no matter who you are, where you live, or how much money you make. The bill has been drafted after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
Abortion remains legal at all stages of pregnancy in Oregon, and state law already bars health insurance companies from discriminating on the basis of gender identity. But Democratic lawmakers said the measure was needed to push back against the flurry of anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ measures in conservative legislatures that is compelling people to travel to states like Oregon in search of such care.
The emotionally charged hearing at the state Capitol in Salem in March lasted several hours with dozens of people testifying in person. Hundreds more submitted written testimony both for and against it. The bill now heads to the state Senate, led also by Democrats, where it could be voted on as early as this week.