This month we’re sharing a Letter to the Editor published in The Nugget on September 30th. In it, writer Mary Chaffin explains how Christine Drazen threatens reproductive healthcare and more…
To the Editor:
Fact: The Oregon Health Plan (Oregon’s Medicaid program) provides healthcare to more than half of Oregon’s children. Governor Kotek has worked to expand the Oregon Health Plan and opposes Trump’s cuts to federal Medicaid funding. In contrast, Christine Drazan voted against funding for the Oregon Health Plan and does not oppose Trump’s cuts to Medicaid.
Fact: Oregonians have consistently supported laws protecting women’s healthcare, including a woman’s right to choose. Governor Kotek has worked tirelessly to ensure women’s access to healthcare — by stockpiling a long-term supply of mifepristone, by passing the nation’s strongest abortion-access law, and by enacting a shield law to protect every patient who seeks care and every provider who gives it. In contrast, Christine Drazan sponsored a bill that could result in felony charges being brought against doctors who provide abortion care. She supports the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that allows states to ban abortion in all circumstances.
Fact: Oregonians treasure the natural beauty of our state and support efforts to protect it from drought, wildfires, and other calamities resulting from climate change. Governor Kotek has joined the Governors of Washington and California to oppose Trump’s extreme budget cuts and diversions that have gutted our National Parks, Forests, and Monuments and his efforts to open up our priceless public lands to unchecked exploitation by corporations. In contrast, Christine Drazan has not opposed Trump’s environmental policies. Instead, she has taken tens of thousands of dollars from extractive industry companies and repeatedly walked out of the Legislature to derail climate legislation. She pledges to dismantle Oregon’s Climate Protection Program, which is aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.
Fact: Christine Drazan has supported legislation to overturn Oregon’s first-in-the-nation universal vote-at-home electoral system that Trump has sought to dismantle. In contrast, Governor Kotek has fought to make our vote-at-home system operate more safely and easily for all eligible voters and to protect it from Trump’s attempts to scuttle it.
Fact: Christine Drazan did not oppose Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon, a deployment that was adjudged to be illegal by Trump-appointed Federal District Court Judge Karin Immergut. In contrast, Governor Kotek fought for our right not to be illegally occupied by troops.
These are just a few of the facts. We can’t afford to elect a person to Oregon’s highest office who is a Trump ally and who is so out-of-step with our values. Christine Drazan isn’t the answer to Oregon’s problems. Christine Drazan is the problem!
Mary Chaffin
