(Oregon Right to Life) — Democrat lawmakers in the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against three Republican-led amendments on Wednesday aimed at ensuring that HB 4088, a bill designed to protect providers of abortion and controversial gender services, would not jeopardize minors and victims of abuse, coercion, or trafficking.
HB 4088 would solidify legal protections for providers of abortions and gender treatments and expand protections to anyone assisting others in receiving such services, even if the patients are minors who lack parental consent. Specifically, it would limit or block cooperation between agencies in Oregon, the federal government, and other states, further entrenching Oregon’s position as a destination for “abortion tourism.”
The bill has triggered opposition from Oregon Right to Life and numerous other organizations and groups concerned about the safety of women, unborn babies, and children. In particular, there is concern that the bill would inadvertently empower bad actors, including abusers and traffickers.
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“This irresponsible bill should never have been introduced. It is women, girls, parents, and especially victims of abuse and trafficking who deserve stronger safeguards, not abortion providers and those who assist them,” Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson said in a Thursday statement. “Coercion and trafficking in cases of abortion clearly happen, as we all saw in the devastating 2023 case of a 15-year-old Idaho girl allegedly brought across state lines by her 18-year-old boyfriend and his mother for an abortion. These abuses can be far too easy to ignore or overlook, especially when the legal emphasis is placed on shielding those who perform or assist others in obtaining abortions, rather than protecting women and girls. This bill is a move in the wrong direction.”
A 2014 study by the Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy at Loyola University Chicago School of Law that surveyed sex trafficking survivors found that “more than half (55.2%) of the sixty-seven respondents who answered reported at least one abortion, with twenty respondents (29.9%) reporting multiple abortions. Without accounting for possible underreporting, this subset of responding survivors reported a total of 114 abortions.” Numerous undercover investigations and court documents recount instances in which abortion facility staff have apparently failed to identify and report abuse, including against minors.
During a Wednesday work session in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Oregon Republican Senator Kim Thatcher introduced three amendments to HB 4088 to address pro-life concerns.
Two of these amendments were specifically directed toward protecting children:
- Amendment 6: Addresses an overbreadth concern in the bill. This amendment creates a narrow carveout cooperating with lawsuits when the specified circumstances involve a minor under the age of 18, or harm that occurred while the individual was a minor under 18.
- Amendment 7: Presents a more limited version of that proposal adapted to Oregon’s current statutory framework regarding minors and access to these services. It creates a carveout cooperating with lawsuits when the specified circumstances involve a minor under the age of 15, or harm done while the individual was under 15.
The third proposed amendment addressed concerns about HB 4088’s potential impact of stalling or blocking criminal investigations instigated by agencies of the federal government or other states, thereby denying victims justice.
- Amendment 8 clarifies that nothing in this bill prevents cooperation when there is a criminal investigation involved. Section 3 prohibits Oregon public bodies from cooperating with certain federal or out-of-state investigations related to lawful reproductive or gender-affirming care. This amendment ensures that when there are allegations of criminal conduct, such as abuse, coercion, or trafficking, law enforcement investigations are not obstructed.
During the Wednesday work session, Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against all three amendments.
“By rejecting these amendments, Senate Democrats failed the frightened teen girl taken across state lines for an abortion,” Anderson said. “They failed the parents seeking justice for a minor child who could receive gender treatments at the hands of Oregon providers without their knowledge or consent. They failed the unborn baby whose very right to life has become dependent on her geography. And they failed their constituents who deserve to see laws passed that will protect the most vulnerable, not simply add legal shields for those who profit from these controversial and destructive procedures.”
The bill has sparked serious alarm and pushback from Oregon Right to Life and diverse organizations and groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, the USA Chapter of Women’s Declaration International, Do No Harm Action, the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, the Abortion Survivors Network, Women’s Liberation Front, and LGB Courage Coalition, along with hundreds of pro-life Oregonians.
“HB 4088 provides greater protection than that afforded to almost any other medical service,” Sister Veronica Schueler, FSE, Director of the Oregon Catholic Conference previously wrote to members of the Oregon House Committee on Judiciary. “We are deeply concerned about the bill’s overreach. While privacy and confidentiality for all patients are bedrock principles within our healthcare systems, they should not come at the expense of protecting abuse, malpractice, or harm to individuals… This law would also make it more difficult to protect the victims of human trafficking and domestic violence who can be forced to have abortions.”
“Because this measure establishes a unique legal environment for reproductive and gender-related services, restricts cooperation with out-of-state and federal investigations, limits access to medical records, and extends immunity not only to providers—but those that ‘assist’ or ‘attempt’ to provide care, HB 4088 opens the door to serious legal ambiguity and risk,” Republican state Rep. Bobby Levy said. “From a legal and healthcare systems perspective—HB 4088 creates a mess. It blurs boundaries and weakens the clear regulatory frameworks, consistent standards of care, and transparent accountability our healthcare providers rely on.”
In testimony opposing the bill earlier this week, Oregon Right to Life Political Director Sharolyn Smith pointed to the 2023 kidnapping case concerning a 15-year-old Idaho girl who was allegedly brought across state lines to Oregon by her boyfriend and his mother for an abortion. Oregon Right to Life has emphasized the need for state agencies to be fully empowered to cooperate with one another in similar investigations for the protection of victims. In her testimony, Smith also pointed to the horrific abuses of late-term abortion provider Kermit Gosnell, underscoring the dire harms that can result from failures of oversight.
As written, HB 4088 would expand protected interstate actions under Oregon’s 2023 shield law (HB 2002) to include “any person who provides or attempts to provide aid, assistance, resources, encouragement or support to a person in providing or receiving or attempting to provide or receive reproductive health care or gender-affirming treatment.” It also further solidifies existing immunity from out-of-state legal interference. According to the text of the legislation, HB 4088 would “[prohibit] cooperation with law enforcement agencies of the federal government or other states in actions involving legally-protected reproductive or gender-affirming health care activities… if such activity would be lawful if it occurred entirely in this state,” including abortions and gender-related surgeries and treatments.
Abortion and “gender-affirming care” are legal for children ages 15 and older in Oregon without parental permission or notification. Girls under the age of 15 can legally get abortions if the provider believes that notifying her parents would cause harm.
The proposed legislation comes as Oregon has increasingly become a destination for “abortion tourism” following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. There were 1,861 abortions in Oregon for women residing out-of-state in 2024, up from 1,661 in 2023 and 1,036 in 2022.
The next reading of HB 4088 has not yet been scheduled.
