Ron speaks out in Oregon against extremist anti-abortion agenda

In the face of new extreme abortion laws in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and several other states, Ron joined last week with Planned Parenthood supporters in Oregon to defend access to reproductive health care.

At news conferences in Eugene and Portland, Ron noted that the vast majority of Americans share the core belief that women should make their own personal healthcare decisions.

And he said most Americans also support the right to have safe and legal access to abortion, without interference from politicians.

“That’s because people in this country know that they live in the United States of America, not in an episode of the Handmaid’s Tale,” Ron said, noting he is a co-sponsor of the EACH Woman Act and the Women’s Health Protection Act.

He said the harsh anti-abortion laws in other states include provisions that mandate criminal penalties for health care decisions made by women and their doctors, eliminate exceptions for cases of rape or incest, and are even advocated for by likening women getting medical care to the Holocaust.

“These are life-and-death questions when anti-choice lawmakers in states across the country somehow think they have a right to control women’s bodies, Ron said.

“Here’s a two-sentence memo for those politicians, many of whom just happen to be men -- Your heartless schemes are a direct assault on civil rights,” he said. “And we will not let you lurch health care back to the dark days when women lacked the right to make their own reproductive choices.”