Protesters call for an end to the state Senate Republican walkout at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem in May.

The longest walkout in the history of the Oregon Legislature was more like a confession than a calculation.

Republican stances on abortion, gun control and a host of other policy issues do not reflect the views of a majority of Oregonians. Unable to convince voters to give them power in Salem, Republicans have resorted to legislative hostage-taking to slow progress.

The six-week walkout by Senate Republicans appeared scripted for a GOP base comfortable with life in the minority. The ever-shifting narrative behind the protest was not tailored to persuade independents or moderate Democrats — it was performance art for the far right.

Several Republicans — including state Sen. Suzanne Weber, a Tillamook Republican who represents the North Coast — had more than 10 unexcused absences, the threshold that bars senators from new terms under Measure 113, which was approved by voters last November to deter walkouts. Toward the end of the protest, Senate Democrats imposed $325-a-day fines for unexcused absences.

Republicans have promised to challenge Measure 113 in court and have shrugged off the fines.

In our view, the consequences for walkouts should ultimately rest with voters.

We opposed Measure 113. Denying a quorum is a tactic that can serve as a check on majority rule. As politics in the United States becomes more extreme, procedural maneuvers can be useful tools to help prevent fundamental rights from being stripped away.

But none of the walkouts in Oregon over the past few decades — from the Democrats’ move against redistricting in 2001 to the Republican protest against cap and trade in 2020— were justified in our mind.

We trust voters to determine whether the walkout this year, which put dozens of bills at the Legislature at risk, was worth it when the senators involved in the protest campaign for reelection.

Abortion and gun control

Senate Republican objections were the loudest on two bills: House Bill 2002, on abortion rights and gender-affirming care; and House Bill 2005, on gun control.

In the deal brokered to end the walkout, Senate Democrats agreed to amend HB 2002 to require that minors under 15 obtain parental consent for abortion. But the legislation contains important exceptions. Parental consent is not needed if a health care provider reasonably believes that involving a parent may result in the physical or emotional abuse or neglect of the minor. Parental consent is also not needed if health care providers from separate medical facilities concur that it would not be in the best interest of the minor.

Far from the triumph for parental rights that Republicans claim, the compromise mirrors the kind of deliberations that often occur among health care providers in the rare and troubling occasions that minors under 15 need an abortion and do not want to tell their parents.

“Let’s remember what’s happening in this situation for these young children who are pregnant,” Gov. Tina Kotek told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “They have been abused, they have been raped, most often by a family member. These are very tragic situations. I’m not willing to say to a child, you can’t access health care because you’re not going to get parental consent.”

Senate Democrats, though, did agree to strike other parts of the bill, including grant money for reproductive health care in rural areas. The Astorian reported last year that the lack of access to abortion services in rural areas like Clatsop County can create barriers for women that complicate their health care choices.

This debate did not occur in isolation. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion last year, Republicans in states across the country have moved to impose restrictive abortion laws. Republicans are discussing a national abortion ban if the GOP is able to capture control of Congress and the White House after the 2024 elections.

HB 2002 would help preserve access to abortion and protect health care providers who perform the procedure as women from other states travel to Oregon for help.

On HB 2005, the deal to end the walkout preserved a ban on so-called “ghost” guns, which are undetectable and often purchased online. Senate Democrats, however, agreed to remove provisions of the bill that would have raised the age to buy or possess semiautomatic rifles and other firearms from 18 to 21 and would have allowed local governments to ban concealed carry of guns in government buildings and other public property.

The movement across the United States to raise the age to purchase semiautomatic rifles and other firearms is in response to several mass shootings and other gun violence by young people.

Weber’s role

Weber, a retired elementary school teacher who helped run a cake and catering business and a retail store in Tillamook, won her state House campaign in 2020 on the strength of her nonpartisan experience as a Tillamook mayor and city councilor. She stressed her ability to work with Republicans and Democrats in Salem to advance regional interests.

When she ran for the Senate last year, Weber again emphasized her focus on getting results for the North Coast, not partisanship. She downplayed the potential for abortion to be an issue this year at the Legislature.

Weber told The Astorian that the walkout was the “right thing to do,” but her explanations are unconvincing and at odds with the mission of a problem-solver.

Weber chose to partner with Rep. Emily McIntire, an Eagle Point Republican, and Oregon Right to Life in a lawsuit against House and Senate leaders to try to block the Senate from considering the abortion and gender-affirming care bill. The lawsuit claims the bill summary at the time did not meet state law and the Oregon Constitution because it did not pass a readability test.

The law is meant to encourage plain language by requiring that bill summaries be written at an eighth-grade reading level. While plain language is valuable, the legal challenge could have been made at any time against any number of bills. That it was applied by Republicans and Oregon Right to Life to an abortion bill, and was used as one of the pretexts for the walkout, is a tell about the motivation.

Even after the deal was reached to end the walkout, Weber was among the Senate Republicans who refused to return on June 15 for votes on the abortion and gun control bills that were at the heart of their protest.

Through her actions, Weber showed her constituents on the North Coast her priorities. Voters should remember this moment and show Weber the consequences of skipping work if she decides — and is legally able — to seek reelection in 2026.

An eighth grader would understand why.