WASHINGTON – Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) is entering one of the most closely watched congressional races in the country, fighting to keep her seat in a tight race against Democrat Janelle Bynum as Republicans hold the House of Representatives. Delegates are about to lose their majority in November.
So people were certainly paying attention when she accused Bynum during a Tuesday night debate of telling an “outright lie” that she supported a so-called “heartbeat bill,” legislation that would ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
“Where I think Representative Chavez-DeRemer lets us down is that she promised to uphold Roe and yet voted 13 times on bills that would essentially pass a national abortion ban,” Bynum said during the debate. “She also supported the heartbeat bill.”
“That’s a lie,” Chavez-DeRemer interjected.
When it was her turn to speak, she pushed back a little further.
“That’s just an outright lie,” the Republican congressman said. “There hasn’t been a vote on a heartbeat bill, so I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Heartbeat bills, which Republicans have introduced in several states and in Congress, take their name from abortion opponents who falsely claim that a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected after six weeks of pregnancy. In fact, an embryo has six weeks hasn’t even developed a heart yet and those sounds are more likely to come from an ultrasound machine that translates electronic impulses, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Chavez-DeRemer’s response to Bynum’s claim was deceptive; she said she didn’t voted for a heartbeat account, which is different from to support An. But Chavez-DeRemer did support a heartbeat bill — her passage of it is still public and easy for anyone to see.
“A large majority of Americans want restrictions on abortion and I would support passing legislation like the Heartbeat Bill,” Chavez-DeRemer said. tweeted in May 2022. She linked to a Salem Statesman Journal story about Oregon candidates working on abortion laws.
Thank you @Salem_Statesman. Oregon has passed extreme laws allowing abortion on demand and taxpayer-funded abortions. A large majority of Americans want restrictions on abortion, and I would support passing legislation like the Heartbeat Act. #OR05https://t.co/VkACHchvpx
— Lori Chavez-DeRemer – Text LORI to 78100 (@LChavezDeRemer) May 3, 2022
HuffPost could not find contacts for Chavez-DeRemer’s campaign, or any way to contact them on its website. Top aides in her congressional office did not respond to requests for comment on why she claimed it was wrong for her to support a six-week abortion ban.
The Oregon Republican was not a co-sponsor of the heartbeat bill in the current Congress. However, she has voted for bills restricting access to abortion.
In one case, she voted to block the government from reimbursing people in the military who had to travel to get an abortion. In another case, she voted for legislation to impose fines or jail time on doctors who fail to provide care to infants in the extremely rare case where a fetus is born alive after a botched abortion. This bill was strongly opposed by reproductive health experts, who warned that it was actually intended to stigmatize health care and limit access to abortion.
Curiously, just five months after her tweet, Chavez-DeRemer attempted to reverse her support for a six-week abortion ban.
In a stimulating interview from October 2022 Working with a local TV host, Laural Porter of KGW News, Chavez-DeRemer faced questions about the heartbeat law.
“Do you support that support for the heartbeat law?” Porter asked, referring to her May 2022 tweet.
“Well, there was a conversation about what this might look like if we had to have this conversation. And I know there has been a conversation about the Pain Act conversations about the 24 weeks during which a child, a baby, cannot survive without its mother. And then there are all these conversations,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “I think exactly what that should be should be right here in the hands of the people of Oregon. And that’s where I would like to keep it and not have it on the floor of Congress.”
After that incredible word salad, Porter said she “didn’t quite understand what you said” and asked again if she thinks abortion should be banned after six weeks. Chavez-DeRemer responded by saying she would not support a federal abortion ban and then suggested she would support a 12-week abortion ban in the state.
“Would you ever support a ban on abortion after six weeks or beyond?” Porter asked.
“I think women should have access to the first trimester,” Chavez-DeRemer responded.
“All the way up to twelve weeks,” Porter said.
“Yes, the first trimester,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
“So you changed your mind about what you tweeted?” Porter asked.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind. I’ve always felt that way,” the Oregon Republican said. “That question was asked during a six-week conversation about what the conversation would look like if this ever came up.”
Porter again brought up her tweet in support of the heartbeat bill, saying it “seems different than what you’re saying now.”
“No. No. It’s the same,” Chavez-DeRemer insisted. “My position has never changed, Laurel.”
“Only twelve weeks?” said Porter.
“Yes,” Chavez-DeRemer replied. “I think women, women have been asking for that access. I trust women. I trust the people of Oregon will make that decision.”
Chavez-DeRemer’s seat is being considered a ‘toss’, according to The Cook’s political report. That’s her essentially tied in the polls with Bynum leading by 1 or 2 points, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
Former Democrat Kurt Schrader held this seat in the House of Representatives for fourteen years until 2022, when he lost the primary to a progressive challenger, Jamie McLeod-Skinner. She subsequently lost the general election to Chavez-DeRemer.
Chavez-DeRemer and Bynum will debate again Thursday evening.
