Oregon May Vote on Abortion, Protecting Women on 2006 Ballot 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 19, 2005
Salem, OR (LifeNews.com) — Oregon’s statewide pro-life organization is working on two ballot initiatives that would have state voters considering abortion and whether to offer further protection for pregnant women and their unborn children from acts of violence.
Oregon Right to Life hopes to put tow measures on the November 2006 ballot. One would require abortion facilities to notify the parents of a minor girl that she is considering an abortion. Similar laws in other states have proven effective in reducing the number of abortions on teenagers.
The other ballot initiative would allow prosecutors to charge criminals with two crimes when they attack a pregnant women and kill or injure her unborn child. Abortion advocates have stalled a bill in the state legislature to do that because they don’t consider such crimes as having more than one victim.
"We’ve tried our best to pass it through our legislative process, which is our preference, but we’ve been stymied," Lois Anderson, the group’s political director, told the Oregonian newspaper.
Oregon voters rejected a parental notification proposal in 1990, but Anderson told the Portland newspaper that another effort is necessary because "16 years had had a lot of changes in how people view issues that surround abortion."
Oregon Right to Life is working with a coalition of other pro-life groups on the violence against pregnant women measure.
However, before either idea can be put on the ballot, the state Attorney General and Secretary of State must sign off on its legality and Oregon pro-life advocates must obtain enough signatures to gain ballot status.
In 2004, just six of 152 ballot initiatives made it to voters and only seven of 183 were approved for a vote in 2002.
Related web sites:
Oregon Right to Life – https://www.ortl.org
