PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – As President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, elected officials in Oregon are preparing for potential challenges to abortion access.
Following the results of the general election, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek announced Monday that the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Health & Science University have an updated agreement to continue operating Oregon’s emergency supply of mifepristone, an FDA-approved medication used for abortion.
The governor said OHSU secured a new supply of mifepristone, extending Oregon’s stockpile expiration date to September 2028.
"I believe in reproductive freedom and am committed to being a fierce advocate for every person’s access to safe reproductive health care services, no matter the national landscape,” Kotek said. “Oregon is not immune from federal attacks on our reproductive rights. In our state, patients will continue to access the medication they need and providers will deliver these critical services without fear or harassment.”
The updated agreement between OHA and OHSU comes after Kotek directed the two to partner in April 2023 to secure a three-year supply of mifepristone. That supply was set to expire in September 2025.
Oregon Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield told KOIN 6 News on Wednesday that he's also preparing for potential threats to abortion access post-election.
Rayfield said if a national abortion ban is passed, he will file a federal lawsuit challenging the decision as it would conflict with Oregon's laws. He's also continuing outgoing Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum's multistate lawsuit challenging FDA restrictions on mifepristone.
"If the administration were to advocate and pass an abortion ban nationally, that law would be in conflict with Oregon laws. It would be our responsibility in the Attorney General's Office to make sure that we stand up for Oregon's values and stand up for the laws that we have passed in the state that reflect the values in our state," Rayfield said.
Plans to protect abortion access in the state come amid potential threats under a second Trump presidency and after the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, released Project 2025 – a policy playbook for the upcoming administration that calls for restrictions to abortion access.
While President-elect Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, some of his cabinet picks have authored parts of the document, as reported by Politico.
In a statement to KOIN 6 News, Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion," adding, "As President Trump said many times, he had nothing to do with Project 2025."
Under the Department of Health and Human Services section of Project 2025, the document says its number one goal is “Protecting life, conscience, and bodily integrity.”
“From the moment of conception, every human being possesses inherent dignity and worth, and our humanity does not depend on our age, stage of development, race or abilities. The Secretary must ensure that all HHS programs and activities are rooted in a deep respect for innocent human life from day one until natural death: Abortion and euthanasia are not health care,” Project 2025 states.
The document calls for the U.S. to reverse federal approval of abortion drugs and says HHS should threaten to slash federal funds if states do not comply with abortion reporting.
"The CDC’s abortion surveillance and maternity mortality reporting systems are woefully inadequate. CDC abortion data are reported by states on a voluntary basis," Project 2025 says. "Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, HHS should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method.
"It should also ensure that statistics are separated by category: spontaneous miscarriage; treatments that incidentally result in the death of a child (such as chemotherapy); stillbirths; and induced abortion. In addition, CDC should require monitoring and reporting for complications due to abortion and every instance of children being born alive after an abortion. Moreover, abortion should be clearly defined as only those procedures that intentionally end an unborn child’s life. Miscarriage management or standard ectopic pregnancy treatments should
never be conflated with abortion," the document says.
Project 2025 also calls to reinstate a bare-minimum policy of limiting abortion pills to 49 days, or seven weeks, of gestation, and to “stop promoting or approving mail-order abortions in violation of long-standing federal laws that prohibit the mailing and interstate carriage of abortion drugs.”
