4 stories credited to Salem Reporter
Latest story Apr 1, 2026 · on ChamberLight since Apr 2026
A story can appear as several articles (copies of the same piece), so counts of stories and of articles differ.
Scores for Salem Reporter
Writing quality not enough rated stories yet: 4 of 10. How it is measured
Scores last checked Sep 25, 2026.
Stories ChamberLight collected, by month
Stories credited to Salem Reporter, by publication date. ChamberLight collects articles that mention the officials it tracks, so this shows its own coverage of this source, not how much the source publishes.
- Stories from Salem Reporter
- Shaded: ChamberLight collected no stories, or almost none, from any outlet (a gap in its collection, not in the outlet’s publishing)
Show as a table
| Month | Stories | All outlets |
|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | 3 | 296 |
| April 2026 | 1 | 4,537 |
| May 2026 | 0 | none collected |
| June 2026 | 0 | none collected |
| July 2026 | 0 | none collected |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 (collection gap) |
| September 2026 | 0 | 598 |
Top topics
Share of this source’s stories tagged with each topic. A story can carry several topics, so the shares do not add up to 100%.
- Ethics/Corruption3
75% of 4 stories · 56% across all outlets
- Criminal Justice2
50% of 4 stories · 18% across all outlets
- Abortion/Reproductive Rights1
25% of 4 stories · 1% across all outlets
- Agriculture1
25% of 4 stories · 2% across all outlets
- Economy1
25% of 4 stories · 24% across all outlets
- Environment/Climate1
25% of 4 stories · 4% across all outlets
- Healthcare1
25% of 4 stories · 7% across all outlets
- Immigration1
25% of 4 stories · 12% across all outlets
The thin mark on each bar is the topic’s share across all outlets.
Who they cover
Party of the officials these stories are mainly about, across all 5 officials named. A story counts once for each official it is mainly about, so the split is over 8 story–official pairs, from 4 stories.
- Democrat75% · 6 pairs
- Republican13% · 1 pair
- Party not recorded13% · 1 pair
Most covered
Stories mainly about each official, and their share of the source’s 4 stories.
Article tone
ChamberLight’s article analysis assigns each story a tone toward the official it covers. It describes the coverage of that official, not Salem Reporter’s stance, and reader votes do not change it. 4 stories.
- Good Look
- 1 (25%)
- Mixed
- 3 (75%)
- Informational
- 0 (0%)
- Bad Look
- 0 (0%)
Challenges to these scores
No one has challenged a score on this page yet. Anyone can; editors publish every outcome here.
Articles served from salemreporter.com
8
Acting ICE director says feds not ‘currently’ planning new Oregon detention centers
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no current plans to build new detention facilities or expand existing ICE locations in the state of Oregon, a top ICE official said, tempering months of speculation that a new facility could be coming to the Oregon Coast. The assurance came in a letter last week from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas. Salinas, a Democrat who represents the Willamette Valley, had opposed any plans to bolster or create new facilities in the Beaver State in a Feb. 12 letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security signed by the state’s Democratic congressional delegation alongside 10 Democratic congressmembers. Lyons didn’t explicitly rule out the possibility for a detention facility in the future, but wrote that “ICE is not currently planning to expand current detention facilities or open any new long or short-term detention facilities in Oregon.” In a statement responding to Lyons’ comments, Salinas said that Oregonians “never wanted an ICE detention facility in our state, especially as ICE and DHS have repeatedly abused their power and terrorized our communities.” “I am glad that the administration confirmed they currently have no plans to build or expand any ICE detention facility in Oregon,” she said. “I have consistently demanded full transparency and accountability from ICE and the Trump administration for their misconduct, and I will keep using every avenue available to call out ICE’s overreach and keep our communities safe.” Oregon is one of the few states without a long-term immigration detention facility, a reflection of its decades-long status as America’s first sanctuary state. State law prohibits state or local law enforcement resources from being used to help enforce federal immigration law without a judicial warrant, and a 2021 law banned private immigration detention centers. The potential for a new ICE detention facility arose last fall amid concerns that federal immigration authorities were scouting the Oregon Coast for a long-term detention facility using the city’s U.S. Coast Guard municipal airport site. Newport’s city leaders went public with their concerns on Nov. 10, and clues from job listings for detention officers to an inquiry from a federal defense contractor seeking to lease land by the Coast Guard facility fueled suspicion. The potential facility generated strong opposition from residents and the state’s Democratic leadership, who also took issue with the temporary removal of a life-saving rescue helicopter from the Coast Guard facility. The state of Oregon asked a federal judge in December to halt any potential construction of an immigration detention facility in Newport. The lawsuit generated a statement from an ICE official in January confirming that the agency was interested in a temporary holding and processing center in the city, but that it had no plans for construction or opening until at least May 2026. Since then, news outlets have reported on a federal contractors’ interest in a potential detention facility in Coos County and a bid for a rental ICE office space that could be in cities such as Roseburg or Portland. Democratic officials expressed skepticism of Lyons’ latest assurance. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a statement that “again and again, ICE has been caught lying to the American people, so we should be skeptical of anything they tell us.” “Trump is hellbent on deploying his secret police across Oregon, and we won’t stand for it,” Merkley said. “I say HELL NO to any plans to expand ICE facilities or operations in Oregon, whether it’s office space, detention centers, or anything else the Trump Administration cooks up.” In a statement, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said he was gratified with the new development but would be “watchdogging it in all the days ahead to make sure it stays a fact throughout Oregon.” “As with all things immigration and so many other debacles created by the Trump administration, the watchwords here are: stay on them!” he said. “Every word he and any of his subordinates utter must be checked and double checked for truth and accuracy.” Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Acting ICE director says feds not ‘currently’ planning new Oregon detention centers appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Acting ICE director says feds not ‘currently’ planning new Oregon detention centers
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no current plans to build new detention facilities or expand existing ICE locations in the state of Oregon, a top ICE official said, tempering months of speculation that a new facility could be coming to the Oregon Coast. The assurance came in a letter last week from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas. Salinas, a Democrat who represents the Willamette Valley, had opposed any plans to bolster or create new facilities in the Beaver State in a Feb. 12 letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security signed by the state’s Democratic congressional delegation alongside 10 Democratic congressmembers. Lyons didn’t explicitly rule out the possibility for a detention facility in the future, but wrote that “ICE is not currently planning to expand current detention facilities or open any new long or short-term detention facilities in Oregon.” In a statement responding to Lyons’ comments, Salinas said that Oregonians “never wanted an ICE detention facility in our state, especially as ICE and DHS have repeatedly abused their power and terrorized our communities.” “I am glad that the administration confirmed they currently have no plans to build or expand any ICE detention facility in Oregon,” she said. “I have consistently demanded full transparency and accountability from ICE and the Trump administration for their misconduct, and I will keep using every avenue available to call out ICE’s overreach and keep our communities safe.” Oregon is one of the few states without a long-term immigration detention facility, a reflection of its decades-long status as America’s first sanctuary state. State law prohibits state or local law enforcement resources from being used to help enforce federal immigration law without a judicial warrant, and a 2021 law banned private immigration detention centers. The potential for a new ICE detention facility arose last fall amid concerns that federal immigration authorities were scouting the Oregon Coast for a long-term detention facility using the city’s U.S. Coast Guard municipal airport site. Newport’s city leaders went public with their concerns on Nov. 10, and clues from job listings for detention officers to an inquiry from a federal defense contractor seeking to lease land by the Coast Guard facility fueled suspicion. The potential facility generated strong opposition from residents and the state’s Democratic leadership, who also took issue with the temporary removal of a life-saving rescue helicopter from the Coast Guard facility. The state of Oregon asked a federal judge in December to halt any potential construction of an immigration detention facility in Newport. The lawsuit generated a statement from an ICE official in January confirming that the agency was interested in a temporary holding and processing center in the city, but that it had no plans for construction or opening until at least May 2026. Since then, news outlets have reported on a federal contractors’ interest in a potential detention facility in Coos County and a bid for a rental ICE office space that could be in cities such as Roseburg or Portland. Democratic officials expressed skepticism of Lyons’ latest assurance. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a statement that “again and again, ICE has been caught lying to the American people, so we should be skeptical of anything they tell us.” “Trump is hellbent on deploying his secret police across Oregon, and we won’t stand for it,” Merkley said. “I say HELL NO to any plans to expand ICE facilities or operations in Oregon, whether it’s office space, detention centers, or anything else the Trump Administration cooks up.” In a statement, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said he was gratified with the new development but would be “watchdogging it in all the days ahead to make sure it stays a fact throughout Oregon.” “As with all things immigration and so many other debacles created by the Trump administration, the watchwords here are: stay on them!” he said. “Every word he and any of his subordinates utter must be checked and double checked for truth and accuracy.” Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Acting ICE director says feds not ‘currently’ planning new Oregon detention centers appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Oregon Dems request feds get more public input on massive new logging plans for western forests
Oregon’s congressional Democrats are asking federal officials to give the public more time to learn about and comment on new plans that would open up millions of acres of federal forests in Oregon to logging activity not seen since the 1960s. The Bureau of Land Management in late February announced it would change the Western Oregon Resource Management Plans that have governed logging and conservation on 2.5 million acres of forests in 17 Oregon counties for decades. The stated goals were “maximum” timber production to “advance Trump administration priorities,” including logging in areas that are home to federally protected, vulnerable species. The announcement kicked off a month-long public comment period that ended March 23, but the agency did not hold any public meetings. Officials said in the announcement they would not hold any meetings before releasing a draft proposal for new logging. Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Janelle Bynum, Maxine Dexter, Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas, all Democrats, said such generational change in logging practices deserves far more public scrutiny. In a letter to Kim Prill, the acting director for the region at the Bureau of Land Management, they asked for a pause and more public comment. Specifically, they want 60 more days of public comment and for bureau officials to hold at least one in-person public meeting in each of the land management bureau districts that would be affected by the increased logging. The lawmakers wrote they had received “significant outreach” from constituents concerned about whether the bureau’s environmental analysis will be adequate, and asking for more time and opportunities to engage with officials on plans, impacts and concerns. “More robust engagement at this stage will help ensure the agency does not overlook critical information necessary to reach a socially and legally acceptable decision,” the lawmakers wrote. A draft analysis of environmental impacts is expected in June, according to the bureau’s site page for the project. Officials did not immediately respond to the Capital Chronicle’s questions Friday about the letter and whether they’d do more public engagement. Hank Stern, a spokesperson for Wyden, said on Friday that land management bureau officials have acknowledged receipt of the letter and told the lawmakers they are working on a response. About three-quarters of the 2.5 million federal acres, known as O&C lands for having once belonged to the Oregon and California Railroad, are currently protected from regular logging. But in its notice of intent, the land management bureau indicated it could return those acres to 1960s harvest levels, at times more than 10 times average harvest levels over the last two decades. Conservationists have called it a plan to return to a time when the agency and the U.S. Forest Service clear cut roughly 3 square miles of old-growth forests per week, and an attempt to override years of court precedent protecting vulnerable species that depend on the stands. That level of logging nearly drove the federally protected northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, a small seabird that nests in old-growth forests, to extinction. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Oregon Dems request feds get more public input on massive new logging plans for western forests appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Oregon Dems request feds get more public input on massive new logging plans for western forests
Oregon’s congressional Democrats are asking federal officials to give the public more time to learn about and comment on new plans that would open up millions of acres of federal forests in Oregon to logging activity not seen since the 1960s. The Bureau of Land Management in late February announced it would change the Western Oregon Resource Management Plans that have governed logging and conservation on 2.5 million acres of forests in 17 Oregon counties for decades. The stated goals were “maximum” timber production to “advance Trump administration priorities,” including logging in areas that are home to federally protected, vulnerable species. The announcement kicked off a month-long public comment period that ended March 23, but the agency did not hold any public meetings. Officials said in the announcement they would not hold any meetings before releasing a draft proposal for new logging. Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Janelle Bynum, Maxine Dexter, Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas, all Democrats, said such generational change in logging practices deserves far more public scrutiny. In a letter to Kim Prill, the acting director for the region at the Bureau of Land Management, they asked for a pause and more public comment. Specifically, they want 60 more days of public comment and for bureau officials to hold at least one in-person public meeting in each of the land management bureau districts that would be affected by the increased logging. The lawmakers wrote they had received “significant outreach” from constituents concerned about whether the bureau’s environmental analysis will be adequate, and asking for more time and opportunities to engage with officials on plans, impacts and concerns. “More robust engagement at this stage will help ensure the agency does not overlook critical information necessary to reach a socially and legally acceptable decision,” the lawmakers wrote. A draft analysis of environmental impacts is expected in June, according to the bureau’s site page for the project. Officials did not immediately respond to the Capital Chronicle’s questions Friday about the letter and whether they’d do more public engagement. Hank Stern, a spokesperson for Wyden, said on Friday that land management bureau officials have acknowledged receipt of the letter and told the lawmakers they are working on a response. About three-quarters of the 2.5 million federal acres, known as O&C lands for having once belonged to the Oregon and California Railroad, are currently protected from regular logging. But in its notice of intent, the land management bureau indicated it could return those acres to 1960s harvest levels, at times more than 10 times average harvest levels over the last two decades. Conservationists have called it a plan to return to a time when the agency and the U.S. Forest Service clear cut roughly 3 square miles of old-growth forests per week, and an attempt to override years of court precedent protecting vulnerable species that depend on the stands. That level of logging nearly drove the federally protected northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, a small seabird that nests in old-growth forests, to extinction. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Oregon Dems request feds get more public input on massive new logging plans for western forests appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Oregonians take to streets to protest Trump as part of third No Kings day of rallies
PORTLAND and SALEM — Tens of thousands of Oregonians turned out to protest Saturday as part of a national wave of rallies against President Donald Trump and his administration. The third coordinated national day of No Kings protests drew Oregonians with signs and plenty to say to Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park and Salem’s Oregon State Capitol Mall, both springtime destinations for cherry blossom viewing. Across the state, Oregonians gathered on street corners and in parks to make their voices heard. States Newsroom, the Capital Chronicle’s parent organization, provided live coverage of No Kings protests throughout the country. An estimated 30,000 people — down from the 40,000 who turned out in Portland for the second No Kings protest in October — were in the Tom McCall park along the Willamette River. Satellite protests on street corners and a morning event with labor leaders and Gov. Tina Kotek also drew attendees. Matthew Gottula, 37, donned an inflatable frog costume to join about a dozen other members of the “frog brigade” at the waterfront park. The frog costumes, which gained nationwide attention after Portlanders wore them to protest at the city’s ICE facility, are a tool for “tactical frivolity” and to puncture the idea that Portland is a war-torn city, Gottula said. “We’re not,” Gottula said. “We are a lovely, wonderful people. We care about our neighbors. And we know how to have a good time and be joyful, but also make a point that we do not accept what’s happening at a federal level.” U.S. Sen Jeff Merkley speaks at the No Kings III protest on Saturday, March 28, 2026, near the Capitol in Salem. (LAURA TESLER/For Salem Reporter) Grace Mitchell, a 56-year old legal assistant, rode a motorized scooter to protest in Portland and carried a sign that said “All of my outrage can’t fit on this sign.” “The way our education is being treated, the money that’s being taken away from science and programs, those are all things that really hurt me,” she said. An evening protest, not affiliated with No Kings, had drawn more than 100 people to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility south of downtown by 6 p.m. Saturday. Among them was Jack Dickinson, commonly known as “the Portland chicken” and the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security over excessive force against protesters. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week paused a lower court’s rulings limiting federal agents’ use of tear gas, pepper balls and other crowd control weapons against protesters at the facility. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, both Democrats, spoke to the crowd gathered in Salem. “I never thought in a million years we would have an authoritarian this close to turning us into an enduring strongman state,” Merkley said. The Salem crowd included nearly 20 members of the Bennette family, many of whom walked almost three miles from Lancaster Drive NE to the Capitol Mall to make their voices heard. “It’s really turned into a family affair,” Wende Bennette-Kirkland said. “We need to end the policing of our First Amendment rights, and we also need to fight for equality for all of our neighbors.” Bennette-Kirkland toted a sign calling to end Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for more political spending, while sister Elizabeth carried a sign depicting a pig styled to look like Trump. Cameron and Annmarie Jones were registered Republicans until 2015, when they left the party over Trump. Now, they’ve been to more than 10 protests since Trump’s return to office, including Saturday’s No Kings event in Salem. “In 2015, my party elected Donald Trump in their primary as the Republican candidate, and I said, ‘There’s no way I can be in a party that would bring that clown as their representative,’” Cameron Jones said. “I think we need to do everything as citizens to lawfully resist all the horrible things he’s doing.” An estimated 4,000 people joined a No Kings protest Saturday in downtown Corvallis, according to local organizers. Demonstrators there listened to a musical performance from the newly formed Corvallis Resistance Singers and participated in a parade that included a marching band and a giant puppet of President Donald Trump in handcuffs. “It’s important now more than ever to continue resisting and to continue fighting for human rights,” Benton County resident Konnie May said. “It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the intensity and craziness of everything that happens day after day, week after week.” In Cannon Beach, the northwest coastal city of about 1,500 known for its sandy beach and Haystack Rock, a crowd including a person in an inflatable axolotl costume gathered to protest. Capital Chronicle editor-in-chief Julia Shumway, reporter Mia Maldonado and Aubrey Lee, a staff writer for The Collegian student newspaper at Willamette University, contributed reporting. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Oregonians take to streets to protest Trump as part of third No Kings day of rallies appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Wyden, Merkley slam ‘baseless’ federal investigation into Oregon abortion coverage requirement
Oregon’s U.S. senators are calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to drop a “needless and wasteful” investigation into Oregon and other states that require health insurers to cover abortion. In a letter sent Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and shared with the Capital Chronicle, Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley responded to the agency’s recent announcement that officials planned to investigate 13 states that require health insurers to cover abortion. “Upon reviewing this alarming inquiry, we must ask why the Trump administration is meddling in state laws regarding health care, especially when Oregonians have been abundantly clear on a matter that should have no interaction with the federal government,” the pair wrote. Oregon’s 2017 Reproductive Health Equity Act requires most insurance plans to cover reproductive care, including abortion, at no out-of-pocket cost for patients. One of the state’s largest insurers, Providence, is exempt from that requirement because it didn’t cover abortion in 2017, as are health insurance plans purchased by religious employers that choose not to include abortion coverage because of their religious beliefs. People covered by those plans can use the Oregon Health Authority’s Abortion Access Plan. Oregonians have long supported reproductive health care, including by electing legislative majorities who support abortion rights and rejecting every ballot measure that attempts to limit abortion access. Nearly two-thirds of voters rejected the most recent, a 2018 proposed constitutional amendment to ban the use of public funds to pay for abortion. The federal investigation announced last week relies on the Weldon Amendment, a federal law enacted annually since 2005 that bars funding for federal, state or local agencies that “discriminate” against health insurance plans, health care institutions or health care professionals that refuse to provide, pay for or cover abortions. The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint, floated the idea of withholding Medicaid funding from states because of the Weldon Amendment. The senators wrote that the investigation undermines states’ rights in Oregon and the 12 other states that require abortion coverage: California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. “Oregon will not be bullied by a federal department attempting to impose its ideological agenda on our local health care system,” they wrote. “We will fiercely defend our laws, our health care providers and our residents’ right to access essential medical care with the utmost privacy and respect.” Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Wyden, Merkley slam ‘baseless’ federal investigation into Oregon abortion coverage requirement appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Wyden, Merkley slam ‘baseless’ federal investigation into Oregon abortion coverage requirement
Oregon’s U.S. senators are calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to drop a “needless and wasteful” investigation into Oregon and other states that require health insurers to cover abortion. In a letter sent Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and shared with the Capital Chronicle, Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley responded to the agency’s recent announcement that officials planned to investigate 13 states that require health insurers to cover abortion. “Upon reviewing this alarming inquiry, we must ask why the Trump administration is meddling in state laws regarding health care, especially when Oregonians have been abundantly clear on a matter that should have no interaction with the federal government,” the pair wrote. Oregon’s 2017 Reproductive Health Equity Act requires most insurance plans to cover reproductive care, including abortion, at no out-of-pocket cost for patients. One of the state’s largest insurers, Providence, is exempt from that requirement because it didn’t cover abortion in 2017, as are health insurance plans purchased by religious employers that choose not to include abortion coverage because of their religious beliefs. People covered by those plans can use the Oregon Health Authority’s Abortion Access Plan. Oregonians have long supported reproductive health care, including by electing legislative majorities who support abortion rights and rejecting every ballot measure that attempts to limit abortion access. Nearly two-thirds of voters rejected the most recent, a 2018 proposed constitutional amendment to ban the use of public funds to pay for abortion. The federal investigation announced last week relies on the Weldon Amendment, a federal law enacted annually since 2005 that bars funding for federal, state or local agencies that “discriminate” against health insurance plans, health care institutions or health care professionals that refuse to provide, pay for or cover abortions. The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint, floated the idea of withholding Medicaid funding from states because of the Weldon Amendment. The senators wrote that the investigation undermines states’ rights in Oregon and the 12 other states that require abortion coverage: California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. “Oregon will not be bullied by a federal department attempting to impose its ideological agenda on our local health care system,” they wrote. “We will fiercely defend our laws, our health care providers and our residents’ right to access essential medical care with the utmost privacy and respect.” Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Wyden, Merkley slam ‘baseless’ federal investigation into Oregon abortion coverage requirement appeared first on Salem Reporter.
Wyden, Merkley slam ‘baseless’ federal investigation into Oregon abortion coverage requirement
Oregon’s U.S. senators are calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to drop a “needless and wasteful” investigation into Oregon and other states that require health insurers to cover abortion. In a letter sent Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and shared with the Capital Chronicle, Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley responded to the agency’s recent announcement that officials planned to investigate 13 states that require health insurers to cover abortion. “Upon reviewing this alarming inquiry, we must ask why the Trump administration is meddling in state laws regarding health care, especially when Oregonians have been abundantly clear on a matter that should have no interaction with the federal government,” the pair wrote. Oregon’s 2017 Reproductive Health Equity Act requires most insurance plans to cover reproductive care, including abortion, at no out-of-pocket cost for patients. One of the state’s largest insurers, Providence, is exempt from that requirement because it didn’t cover abortion in 2017, as are health insurance plans purchased by religious employers that choose not to include abortion coverage because of their religious beliefs. People covered by those plans can use the Oregon Health Authority’s Abortion Access Plan. Oregonians have long supported reproductive health care, including by electing legislative majorities who support abortion rights and rejecting every ballot measure that attempts to limit abortion access. Nearly two-thirds of voters rejected the most recent, a 2018 proposed constitutional amendment to ban the use of public funds to pay for abortion. The federal investigation announced last week relies on the Weldon Amendment, a federal law enacted annually since 2005 that bars funding for federal, state or local agencies that “discriminate” against health insurance plans, health care institutions or health care professionals that refuse to provide, pay for or cover abortions. The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint, floated the idea of withholding Medicaid funding from states because of the Weldon Amendment. The senators wrote that the investigation undermines states’ rights in Oregon and the 12 other states that require abortion coverage: California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. “Oregon will not be bullied by a federal department attempting to impose its ideological agenda on our local health care system,” they wrote. “We will fiercely defend our laws, our health care providers and our residents’ right to access essential medical care with the utmost privacy and respect.” Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: info@salemreporter.com. The post Wyden, Merkley slam ‘baseless’ federal investigation into Oregon abortion coverage requirement appeared first on Salem Reporter.