Oregon made early strides with liberal abortion laws by becoming one of the first states to legalize abortion in 1969. The original law allowed abortion during the first 150 days of pregnancy if it endangered the mother’s physical or mental health, the baby faced physical or mental impairment, or the pregnancy occurred as the result of rape or other criminal circumstances.
Since abortion became legal throughout the country after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, Oregon adopted some of the most permissive abortion laws in the nation.
According to Oregon Right to Life, it is the only state without protective pro-life laws.
Vote Now: Do You Support Tougher Regulations on Abortion Clinics?
However, Oregon allows an
abortion refusal clause, NARAL Pro-Choice America noted. Physicians, medical staff members, and hospitals can refuse to provide abortion services.
Other than that, Oregon has no major restrictions within its abortion laws. There are no waiting periods for women choosing to have an abortion, no parental consent requirement, and no limits on public funding for abortion,
according to the Guttmacher Institute.
“I’m not one for rules other than it needs to be safe and there shouldn’t be an agenda,” Bud Pierce, a former head of the Oregon Medical Association and GOP candidate for governor said of
abortion access in 2015, according to The Oregonian.
Oregon has similar liberal laws to its neighboring states of Washington and California, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Other states throughout the country with no major restrictions on abortion include New Jersey, New York, and New Mexico.
Oregon and its neighbors on the west coast, along with several liberal states in the northeast, differ dramatically in their abortion laws from inner states such as Missouri, South Dakota, Utah and Oklahoma. Those states have strict abortion access that includes mandated counseling programs and requiring women to wait 72 hours after counseling before the abortion procedure is provided.
Vote Here: Should Abortion Clinics Be Subject to Tougher Regulations?
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.