Leading up to the May 19, 2026 Primary Election, the Democratic Party of Oregon held a virtual press conference on Monday, May 4 to talk about the stark realities of where we are: federal attacks on reproductive rights have very real affects on women and birthing people.
Here at home, each and every candidate vying for the Oregon Republican primary for governor are self-identified as anti-choice (“pro-life”). This is a serious problem for families the state over.
In this video are statements from:
- Nathan Soltz, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon;
- Christopher Coburn, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Action Oregon;
- Candice Williams, Executive Director of The Mother PAC; and
- Grayson Dempsey, Director of Public Affairs if the Lilith Clinic
In Oregon, The Mother PAC and our partners work to ensure our elected officials are working for us: parents, mothers, caregivers, and care providers. Join us in this fight for reproductive, racial, and social justice.
Below is a transcript of Candice Williams’ statement:
Good afternoon. Thank you to all of my fellow speakers for being here today. My name is Candice Williams, I am the Executive Director of The Mother PAC.
The Mother PAC exists to put people in office who care for mamas and caregivers at every level of government. And right now, that mission has never been more urgent. Last week, a federal appeals court tried to block mail-order access to mifepristone, the abortion pill used safely by millions for over 25 years. This was the most sweeping attack on abortion access since Roe fell.
And it doesn’t just affect red states. It affects every state, including us here in Oregon. Right here at home, a federal judge just overturned parts of Oregon’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, the law that guaranteed insurance coverage for abortion and contraception.
Let that sink in. In Oregon—a state where we pride ourselves on being a safe harbor for reproductive rights—women and pregnant people are losing ground. But here’s what else is at stake: Every single Republican running for Governor of Oregon is anti-choice. The stakes aren’t abstract or theoretical. Women across the country are dying without access to the health care they need.
Josseli Barnica. Tierra Walker. Porsha Ngumezi. Nevaeh Crain. Ciji Graham. Amber Thurman. Candi Miller. Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski. Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick. Nine names we know, and dozens more we may never learn.
Tierra Walker was 37. She was a dental assistant and a mother to a 14-year-old son named JJ. She begged doctors for an abortion when her blood pressure skyrocketed. She knew she was at risk. They told her to wait. She died at 20 weeks from preeclampsia. Her son found her body on his birthday.
Porsha Ngumezi was 35. She was a wife and a mother of two boys. She hemorrhaged during a miscarriage and needed a simple procedure. The hospital gave her pills instead. She bled to death while her husband held her hand, begging for help.
These women didn’t die from medical complications. They died from political ones. And attacking abortion access isn’t just a healthcare fight. It’s an economic fight. It’s about who gets to decide whether a family can make ends meet, or whether a mother makes it home from the hospital. Most people seeking abortion aren’t childless—they’re already mothers. They know what it costs to raise a child. They know that adding another would break an already stretched budget. This isn’t irresponsibility. It’s the opposite.
So when politicians demand people have children, we have to ask: Where are the systems to support those families? Childcare costs more than rent. Providers can’t survive on their wages. Rural communities are maternal health deserts. Families are drowning under rising prices for everything—groceries, gas, utilities, healthcare, housing.
You cannot force birth without funding life. You cannot demand parenthood without supporting parents. And you cannot claim to be pro-family while starving the very families you claim to protect.
A threat to abortion access is a threat to health, to economic freedom, to the basic promise that we own our own bodies.So here’s what we do: We say their names. We fight for our futures. We vote like our lives depend on it—because they do. And we make damn sure Oregon stays a sanctuary for reproductive justice—not a battleground.
Thank you.
