Oregon Voters Opposed Parental Notification on Abortion Measure

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 8, 2006   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Oregon Voters Opposed Parental Notification on Abortion Measure Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 8
, 2006

Salem, OR (LifeNews.com) — Oregon voters defeated a parental notification proposal there by a 54-46 percentage margin. The state is always a tough place for pro-life advocates to make advances because of its very pro-abortion voter composition.

With a pro-abortion governor who would not sign a parental notification bill, pro-life groups hoped state voters would be more receptive.

Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood outspent pro-life advocates by a 3-1 margin and ran a series of television commercials that erroneously said teenagers would be forced to tell abusive parents about an abortion.

That effort reversed polls as the final survey showed a stunning turnaround with Measure 43 switching from an 18 point lead in a September poll to a 7 percent deficit by the last week.

Back in September, Oregon voters said they favored the parental notification proposal 56 to 38 percent, but the new poll found them opposing it 50-43.

Sarah Nashif, of the pro-Measure 43 support group Protect our Teen Daughters, said at the time that the huge swing had been a result of the barrage of misleading television commercials abortion advocates ran.

"They’re using outrageous accusations to scare the public," Nashif

Thanks to efforts from Oregon Right to Life, abortions in Oregon are down to their lowest levels since 1998, having decreased 20 percent between then and 2004, the latest year from which state data is available.

The Oregon Department of Human Services reported 14,344 abortions in 1998, but that number decreased to 11,443 abortions in 2004.