What Has Changed After The Oregon GOP Walkout?
By Ethan Tsai and Rhea Banerjee
Salem — Jun 20— After six weeks, five Republican lawmakers returned from a walkout to the Oregon Senate, accomplishing some of their goals in negotiations with the remaining Democrats and allowing a quorum (which requires 20 attending senators) to be held. These are the compromises both parties were able to agree on for upcoming legislation:
Guns
Initially, prominent gun bills included reformations such as raising the age limit for purchasing semiautomatic rifles to 21, limit conceal-carry laws, and penalizing ownership of “ghost guns.” For reference, conceal-carry laws allow citizens to carry on their body certain types of firearms (usually pistols) as long as it is concealed from the public, ideally ensuring personal safety without alarming others. Additionally, undetectable guns are guns manufactured with low quantities of metal, making them difficult or impossible to detect with metal detectors; and ghost guns are guns without serial numbers (often homemade) and thus unregistered.
However, after the walkout, GOP lawmakers were able to limit the adoption of many of these bills. As a result, these are the changes that will be implemented, and the ones that have been removed:
Blocked
- Raising of age limit for purchasing of semi-automatic rifles
- Local governments gain the ability to restrict concealed-carry in government buildings and surrounding areas
- Punishing manufacturing or importing (into Oregon) undetectable firearms, with imprisonment or fines
Passed
- Punishing of ownership of “ghost guns,” with imprisonment or fines
Amended legislation with the first three policies removed were able to pass through the Senate after GOP senators returned.
Abortion and Transgender Care
Abortion and transgender care, another issue that has become highly controversial in the United States in the wake of religious and conservative backlash, was also targeted by both sides in Senate standoff.
Blocked
- Require public and community colleges with student health centers to provide emergency contraception and abortions
- Doctors, in certain cases, cannot inform parents without consent
- Enshrine protection for abortion, homosexual marriage, and transgender care in Oregon’s constitution
Passed
- Shield patients and healthcare providers from lawsuits coming from states where abortion and LGBTQ procedures are restricted
- Bar insurance companies from defining procedures necessary for treating gender dysphoria as cosmetic, which are not covered by insurance
- While parental permission is required for children under 15, if two healthcare providers in separate practices agree informing the parents would be harmful for the child, they do not need to inform the parents. If it is clear that informing parents would lead to child abuse, no second opinion is needed
While abortion activists have expressed disapproval over the blocking of certain policies, the general consensus is that the most critical reformations have been adopted. Legislation covering the agreed-upon compromises were also passed during last Thursday’s quorum.
(Majority of this information was gathered from The Oregonian, Associated Press, and PBS.)
