Oregon Democrats say abortion bill still on table

SALEM – Democratic lawmakers in Salem say last week’s failure of the GOP health care overhaul hasn’t changed their plans to protect women’s access to abortions under their insurance plans.

House Bill 3391 was largely the Oregon Legislature’s response to the now-defunct American Health Care Act, which compromised roughly $10 billion in federal funds to the Pacific Northwest state through proposed abortion restrictions and overturning minimum coverage requirements for birth control and other reproductive services that were carved into the existing Affordable Care Act.

Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek told the Associated Press during a media briefing Monday the so-called Reproductive Health Equity Act is still on the table despite the federal overhaul’s failure on Friday and earlier threats by Providence Health Plans to pull out of the Oregon insurance market should it pass.

“Other things could change at the national level … they could have stand-alone bills, they could do other things so yeah, our plan is to still move it forward,” Kotek said. “I think the bill speaks for itself and it’s really important to a lot of people on this particular area of health care.”

Oregon already has among the most liberal abortion laws in the nation, which are absent of otherwise common requirements for waiting periods or spending limits on taxpayer funds, among others. HB 3391, sponsored by 30 House and Senate lawmakers, would strengthen those existing policies by mandating Oregon health plans to cover abortion procedures, birth control, pap smears and other reproductive health services at no additional out-of-pocket cost to the consumer.

The bill, which is awaiting referral to a House committee, could be up for a floor vote sometime next month.

Democratic Rep. Jeff Barker, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, says it’ll likely pass the House chamber, but he’s less confident about its chances in the Senate.

“It will be contentious, but I believe it will pass,” Barker said. “We want to be sure that women have all their reproductive health needs taken care of.”

Kotek also says she has no interest in tweaking the bill’s language to the liking of Providence, a Catholic-sponsored organization that operates eight hospitals and currently covers 260,000 Oregonians. Days before the GOP overhaul’s failure, Providence CEO Michael Cotton said the proposal’s religious exemptions don’t go far enough and subsequently threatened to pull out of the Oregon insurance market if lawmakers ultimately approve it.

“We believe the legislation provides enough protection in terms of the federal interpretation of the religious exemption,” Kotek said. “We feel like it’s covered. It’s just a difference of opinion.”