Events during the summer of 2023 deprived Oregonians of a chance for self-determination in 2024. That summer, Salem was marred by a 43-day walkout that brought our State legislature to its knees. Ten Republican senators refused to participate in the normal functioning of the Oregon Senate, stymying the passage of needed legislation to keep our State running. After holding the State hostage for well over a month, they returned at the last moment, resulting in a frenzy of activity to keep the State functioning. But, there were casualties from the disruption. In particular, SJR 33 bit the dust.
You can be forgiven if you draw a blank on SJR 33, otherwise known as Senate Joint Resolution 33 or the Equal Rights Amendment Constitutional Referral. The State Senate documentation published in 2023 effectively summarizes the resolution:
“The ERA Constitutional Referral protects equal rights by updating current equality language in our Constitution to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and the right for everyone to make personal decisions about reproductive and gender-related health care, including abortion and gender-affirming care. The ERA Constitutional Referral will also remove Oregon’s antiquated ban on same-gender marriage from the Constitution.”
It is important to note that SJR 33 wouldn’t have directly changed language in the Constitution; it would have simply required that the resolution “be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at a special election held throughout this state on the same date as the next regular general election.” Had it not been for the Republican walkout, Oregon voters would have had the opportunity in November 2024 to accept or reject the amendment.
It is telling that the Republican strategy was to block Oregonians from the opportunity to vote on the issue, presumably because they feared the will of the people would prevail. A fair vote, where both sides make their case to the public, is what many of us would consider democracy in action. But evidently, not everybody believes the voters can be trusted to make this decision for themselves.
At the end of the walkout, Republicans said they had offered support for the same-sex marriage portion of SJR 33, effectively pinpointing the Republican’s primary objection to the resolution as the enshrining women’s rights into the Oregon Constitution. The walkout was a direct attack on the freedom of Oregonian women to manage their reproductive health, including abortion decisions. Abortion is an emotive issue, and it is important to frame the controversies surrounding it in terms of human rights and religious freedom. The perspective below is taken from the Article “Women’s Rights in Oregon Today and Tomorrow.”
An Unanswerable Question
The transformation of evangelical Christianity into a political movement has drastically changed the political landscape, and its agenda has received ample support from the Supreme Court. Much of this effort has advanced under the guise of religious freedom, a concept deeply embedded in our constitutional psyche. However, in considering this concept, we need to differentiate between religious freedom and theocracy. The abortion debate is steeped in a blurred distinction between the two.
When is a fetus a human being? When does life begin? These questions lie at the crux of the abortion debate. Humans are autonomous beings possessing bodily independence. Is a human embryo a person? There is no answer to that question, and science provides us with no definitive insights. Some religions believe that a child becomes a human being when it draws its first independent breath. Other religions hold that human life begins at conception. Others take the logic further and claim that contraception is wrong because it prevents life, implying the pre-life existence of human beings. This particular chain of logic eventually leads to the concept that every ovulated egg that does not result in pregnancy is the destruction of a human being, and a woman’s primary function is as a birthing vessel.
The moment a fetus becomes a person is a matter of personal faith. The only criterion science can provide is viability, which holds that when a fetus gains sufficient growth to survive outside the womb, we can unequivocally say it is a potentially autonomous human being. This is the compromise that Roe vs. Wade settled on. Should a person’s faith inform them that independent human life begins at birth, then they have the freedom in America to follow their religious views. Should that person pass laws forcing everyone to believe as they do, then we lose religious freedom and succumb to theocracy, forcing religion on Americans at the point of a sword.
Moving Forward
Oregon is fortunate to have strong protections for women’s rights. The 2017 Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA) codified the right to an abortion and the right of health care providers to provide abortions in Oregon. In 2023, the passage of HB 2002 built upon RHEA and established the right of women to make their individual decisions about reproductive health, including abortion. Oregon provides public funding for abortion and requires private insurance to cover abortion.
Despite our laws, the rights of Oregonian women are still at risk. Influential right-wing factions have not been satisfied with the fall of Roe and the delegation of abortion regulation to the States. To the dismay of these factions, a majority of voters in many states have overturned abortion bans passed by their state legislatures. As opposed to accepting the will of the people, the right wing is promoting another assault on women’s rights by trying to implement federal legislation and policy that takes away healthcare rights for all women, including Oregonians. Details of the path they are taking are outlined in Project 2025.
Oregon advocacy groups are now working to get a State Constitution Equal Rights Amendment on the 2026 ballot. Enshrining women’s rights in the State Constitution will further strengthen Oregon’s protection of its citizens. These efforts are in the early stages; work is being done to collect the signatures necessary to send the amendment to the voters. The West Linn Alliance is supportive of the Equal Rights Amendment and will be following its progress.
The Alliance realizes that abortion is a sensitive and personal issue, and it respects the right of individuals to follow their own beliefs in this matter. The Alliance, however, does not condone government legislation that favors one set of religious beliefs over another and forces government-mandated religious beliefs on all Oregonians.
Addendum
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 33 (Original 2023 language)
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:
PARAGRAPH 1. The Constitution of the State of Oregon is amended by repealing section 5a, Article XV, and by amending section 46, Article I, such section to read:
Sec. 46. (1) Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the State of Oregon or by any political subdivision in this State on account of sex, including but not limited to denial or abridgement of equal rights by any law, policy or action that discriminates, in intent or effect, based on:
(a) Pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes or related health decisions;
(b) Gender identity or related health decisions;
(c) Sexual orientation; or
(d) Gender.
(2) The Legislative Assembly shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this section.
(3) Nothing in this section shall diminish a right otherwise available to persons under section 20 of this Article or any other provision of this Constitution.
PARAGRAPH 2. The amendment proposed by this resolution shall be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at a special election held throughout this State on the same date as the next regular general election.