Oregon GOP senators end 6-week walkout after new agreements on abortion, gun bills

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Ending a walkout that held up key bills for six weeks, Republicans showed up for work in the Oregon Senate on Thursday after wresting concessions from Democrats on measures covering abortion, transgender health care and gun rights.

The lawmakers’ walkout — the longest in state history and the second-longest in the United States — came as several statehouses around the nation have been ideological battlegrounds, including in Montana and Tennessee.

The Republican boycott, which prevented the state Senate from reaching a two-thirds quorum needed to pass bills, was prompted by a sweeping measure on abortion and gender-affirming care that Republicans called too extreme. The measure would allow doctors to provide abortions regardless of a patient’s age, with medical providers not required to notify the parents of a minor in certain cases.

As part of the deal to end the walkout, Democrats agreed to change language concerning parental notifications for abortion.

https://apnews.com/article/oregon-gop-walkout-ends-e4cf9a17ce536232d158dfe4cc4fc96c