Today, the ACLU of Oregon, the National Lawyers Guild Portland Chapter, and Oregon Lawyers for Good Government sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler expressing deep concern over the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) response to the permitted march on May Day.

Our organizations advocate for peaceful protest and call for an end to violence from protesters and PPB alike.

PPB’s response to the May Day protest was disproportionate and dangerous. First-hand accounts from our legal observers and march organizers make it clear that there was very little violence or property destruction prior to the cancellation of the permit. Instead of handling the limited and isolated incidents appropriately, PPB created chaos by canceling a permitted march in progress without communicating to the participants, many of whom were families, children, and people with mobility issues.

Crowd-control tactics like flashbang grenades and chemical munitions that should be used only as a last resort, now seem to be the regular course of action by the PPB in response to First Amendment activities in Portland. This creates unnecessary public safety risks and puts our First Amendment rights in jeopardy, while also serving to fan the flames of division and embolden those who seek to use protests, rallies, or marches as the platform for vandalism.

Earlier this year, we submitted comments to PPB’s crowd control policy. Adoption and implementation of this policy as we submitted it would move the city in the right direction. It is clear that PPB needs a change in culture as well as a change in policy. We call on the Mayor to keep his promise to demilitarize Portland’s police force and adopt a city policy that focuses on de-escalation, clear communication, and protecting First Amendment rights.

Oregonians have beaten every attempt to introduce legal barriers to abortion in our state, but there is more work to do to ensure that everyone has meaningful access to the full range reproductive health care they need to thrive.

The Reproductive Health Equity Act, HB 3391, establishes the right to safe and legal abortion in Oregon law and removes barriers to reproductive health services by eliminating out-of-pocket costs, filling gaps in reproductive health coverage for those categorically excluded from health programs due to citizenship status, and by prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity.

Oregon has a chance to take a huge leap forward, but we need your help.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your legislators that you support HB 3391 – Oregon’s Reproductive Health Equity Act.

Everyone, regardless of income, citizenship status, gender identity, or type of insurance they carry, needs affordable access to the full range of reproductive health care including safe and legal abortion, birth control, postpartum care, and care for treatable problems like an STD or a lump in their breast. 

More about Oregon's Reproductive Health Equity Act, HB 3391: 

• HB 3391 requires all insurers to cover contraception, expanding access for 18,600 women in Oregon who currently lack this benefit. The ACA requires insurance companies to cover contraception in full, but some insurance plans have found loopholes. 
   
• HB 3391 adds abortion onto the list of reproductive health services that must be covered at no cost to the patient. Nearly half of American households cannot pay an unexpected $400 expense -- the cost of an abortion -- without going into debt or selling something. 
   
• HB 3391 provides the full range of reproductive health care, including care during the postpartum period, to women categorically excluded from coverage based on citizenship status. 48,000 Oregonians of reproductive age have coverage for labor and delivery that drops immediately after birth, leaving them without coverage for follow-up visits during the postpartum period.
• HB 3391 prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in reproductive health coverage. Procedural barriers hinder access to life-saving cancer screenings for transgender and gender-nonconforming Oregonians.