After a six-week standstill, the longest legislative walkout in Oregon's history and the second-longest in U.S. history has concluded. Republican senators returned to the Oregon Senate on Thursday, having secured concessions from Democrats on contentious bills concerning abortion, transgender healthcare, and gun rights. This standoff, mirroring similar ideological battles seen in statehouses across the nation, stemmed from a disagreement over a bill addressing abortion and gender-affirming care, which Republicans viewed as overly permissive. The Republican boycott prevented the Senate from achieving the two-thirds quorum required for passing legislation.
The core issue revolved around a measure allowing doctors to perform abortions regardless of the patient's age, without mandatory parental notification in specific circumstances. The compromise reached requires a second medical provider's concurrence if a physician deems parental notification for a patient under 15 detrimental. However, this second opinion is waived if parental involvement risks abuse or neglect. Democrats maintain that the revised measure safeguards abortion access while protecting healthcare providers from restrictive measures enacted in other states. The agreement also mandates health insurance coverage for medically necessary gender-affirming care.
Furthermore, Democrats conceded on amendments to a bill targeting undetectable firearms. Clauses raising the purchase age for semi-automatic rifles to 21 and imposing stricter concealed carry limitations were removed. Following the agreement, revised versions of both bills were swiftly passed by the Senate and now await a concurrence vote in the House before proceeding to Governor Tina Kotek for signature.
The Oregon Senate in session at the state Capitol in Salem, Oregon, on June 15, 2023, following the six-week Republican-led walkout. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)
While Democrats celebrated the resumption of legislative progress, Republicans viewed the compromise as a win for parental rights and Second Amendment protections. GOP Leader Sen. Tim Knopp, initially intending to maintain the boycott until the session's end on June 25, expressed satisfaction with the bipartisan resolution. This walkout occurred despite a 2022 ballot measure disqualifying lawmakers with ten or more unexcused absences from reelection, a provision likely to face legal challenges from Republican senators. Democrats have proposed a constitutional amendment requiring a majority presence in each chamber for conducting business, a measure unlikely to pass this session given the backlog of pending bills. The walkout also delayed budget approval, potentially necessitating a special session if the budgets remain unapproved by the regular session's end.
Initially, Republicans justified the boycott citing a neglected state law requiring bill summaries to be written at an eighth-grade reading level. This Oregon walkout stands as the second-longest in U.S. history, surpassed only by a six-month walkout in Rhode Island in 1924, triggered by a gas bomb detonation in the Senate chamber.
