[Yeah, go ahead and tell me 2017 sucked. Much of it did, but it was also an exciting year for activism and major progress at the state level on reproductive rights. Please join in me in a retrospective look at all the shit that got done this year thanks to scrappy activists, in spite of everything. —MB]
If you weren’t paying attention on Wednesday, you might not have heard anything about the quiet triumph of the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which would require insurance companies to cover abortion as well as a host of reproductive health care services. It’s now passed both chambers and awaits Gov. Kate Brown’s signature.
I wrote about the bill back in March when it was introduced. Here’s what it does:
HB 2232 would ensure “that Oregonians receive the full range of preventive reproductive health services at zero out-of-pocket cost.” It also includes access provisions for undocumented women and anti-discrimination protections for transgender Oregonians—inclusions that, while unique in a reproductive health bill, make sense given the Trump administration’s recent decision to revoke protections for transgender students (and its emphasis on deporting undocumented immigrants).