STATEMENT FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Salem, Ore. – Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon today congratulated women’s health champion Kate Brown on her swearing-in as the state’s 38th governor.
“Oregonians are fortunate to have leaders like Kate Brown who understand that when women succeed, Oregon succeeds,” said Laura Terrill Patten, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon. “Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon has full confidence in Governor Brown’s leadership and integrity.”
Before being elected to office, Brown began her career as an advocate working with the Women’s Rights Coalition to pass numerous bills on women’s health, domestic violence and economic fairness for women in the workplace. Thanks to the work of her and many others, Oregon became one of the first states in the country to allow parents to stay home with their sick family members without fear of losing their job.
Shortly after joining the Legislature in 1991, Brown helped found the Oregon Women’s Health and Wellness Alliance, a coalition that has passed multiple laws to improve the lives and health of women and their families across the state. Since then, she has been a leader in standing up for Planned Parenthood and protecting access to health care, even in the toughest of economic and political times:
* Governor Brown was an early pioneer of the movement for contraceptive equity for Oregon women. In 2007, after a 14-year battle with the far right and the insurance industry, she succeeded in prohibiting insurance companies from excluding prescription contraceptives if they cover other prescription drugs. For Brown, it was a matter of basic fairness. At the time, women of reproductive age paid an average of 68% more for out-of-pocket health care coverage than men.
* Governor Brown led the effort to require hospitals to offer emergency contraceptives to women who seek them after sexual assault.
* Governor Brown introduced legislation aimed at preventing so-called “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” from spreading false or misleading information to women.
* Governor Brown received Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon’s 2012 Champion Award and has earned a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon for her entire career.
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