Anti-abortion Democrats get organized in Oregon

SALEM, Ore. – Members of the newly formed Oregon chapter of Democrats for Life are hoping their anti-abortion views will be welcomed by others in their party.

The new group is aimed at people who consider themselves at odds with Democrats over abortion rights issues, but in step with the party on most other issues.

“I look at Republicans, particularly the present administration, and I’m just appalled at what I see,” said the group’s president, Eugene resident Ward Ricker, who described himself as a peace activist with a strong environmental ethic and a supporter of robust public services for people in need. “But it seems like the Democrats take the opposite view as we do on the question of abortion.”

Carol Crossed, a national founder of Democrats for Life of America, said her group has developed an agenda for Congress called the “95-10 Initiative.” It lists a variety of policy changes aimed at reducing the number of abortions by 95 percent in the next 10 years.

The proposals include mandatory government health care coverage for low-income pregnant women and newborns in their first year of life and required insurance coverage of contraception devices.

Other proposals, such as prohibiting the transport of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, might not go over too well in Democratic ranks.

But Kelly Steele, communications director for the Democratic Party of Oregon, said Oregon Democrats were eager to welcome members of all viewpoints.

The Oregon group is still in its early organizational stages, Ricker said. He is one of five founders and said its mailing list consisted of about 40 people. Nationally, 41 such state groups have formed.

Oregon Right to Life director Gayle Atteberry said she was pleased that anti-abortion Democrats were trying to organize in Oregon.

If they are able to make themselves heard, she said, some Democratic candidates “who start out with a so-so position on abortion” may support proposals such as requiring parental notification when minors seek abortions.