Jeff Merkley (D)

U.S. Senate, Oregon

• Jeff Merkley, the Speaker for the Oregon State House of Representatives, is fully pro-choice.
• State Representative Merkley is challenging anti-choice Senator Gordon Smith, who received a 40% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2007.  He received a 15% rating in 2006 and a 10% rating in 2005.
• Smith strongly opposes legal abortion and votes accordingly.  He attempts to moderate his choice position by voting for an occasional prevention measure, but rarely anything significant. 
• In 2007, Speaker Merkley was a sponsor of H.B. 2700, The Access to Birth Control (ABC) Act which ensures contraceptive equity by requiring health insurers to cover prescription birth control in a manner consistent with other prescription coverage.  The bill also ensures survivors of sexual assault have access to emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms in Oregon. [www.leg.state.or.us]
• In his first television ad, Merkley used choice positively, with the ad stating among other things "Jeff Merkley.  Always protecting a woman's right to choose." [National Journal's Hotline, 4/8/08]