Ignoring School Board Elections is Not An Option

What you need to know before the May 20th School Board Election.

Oregon Right to Life PAC is currently recruiting and vetting candidates for school boards across Oregon and will deploy our resources to help pro-life advocates win. Check back here soon for updates! Below is critical information about why it is so critical to get involved and vote pro-life by May 20th.

Pro-Life Perspective: Ignoring School Board Elections is Not An Option

Schools are more than just centers of learning; they are shaping the values and decisions of the next generation. Oregon law mandates comprehensive sexuality education from kindergarten through high school, and organizations like Planned Parenthood are deeply embedded in the curriculum and school-based health services. Students are being guided toward an ideology that normalizes abortion, among other controversial reproductive health services. Additionally, School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) already operate under limited oversight. Combined with the erosion of parental rights and lack of transparency, there is a real risk that families are left unaware of the medical services their children are receiving. For pro-life advocates in Oregon, ignoring a school board election is not an option.

Education Partnerships with Abortion Providers

Oregon law mandates that public school districts provide “age-appropriate,” comprehensive human sexuality education from kindergarten through 12th grade. Where among a long list of controversial phraseology, they “support students to recognize and access support, information, and care from trusted adults and organizations.”
Planned Parenthood is the single largest provider of sex education in the United States, reaching 1.2 million people with education and outreach each year.
Oregon Planned Parenthood affiliates advertise and offer curriculum directly from their websites, even advertising specific lesson plans for Multnomah County elementary schools.

Pro-Life Concern: Planned Parenthood and its pro-abortion allies are working to establish a deep-rooted presence in Oregon schools, building trust with students from an early age. By positioning themselves as a reliable resource for reproductive health, they create a pathway where, in the event of an unexpected pregnancy, students are more likely to turn to them—making abortion seem like the natural or expected choice.

School-Based Health Centers & Parental Involvement

In Oregon, minors as young as 15 can consent to abortion, and other controversial procedures like voluntary sterilization, without parental involvement. Minors under 15 can do so without parental involvement if there is a reasonable belief that involving the parent may result in physical or emotional abuse or neglect or if the health care provider believes it is not in the minor’s best interest to involve their parents. Source 1, Source 2

Oregon law allows minors to receive certain medical services without parental notification, and healthcare providers are generally prohibited from disclosing this information without the minor’s consent.

SBHCs have to operate under different privacy standards than traditional medical providers, making oversight difficult.

Under HIPAA and FERPA, the public has little visibility into how these clinics operate and the exact services they provide or don’t.7 While they include reporting of general practices, specific services and referrals are not listed.

Pro-Life Concern: Students trust their schools and often turn to them in moments of crisis. In the case of an unexpected pregnancy, many young girls feel scared, alone, and uncertain about telling their parents. Instead of ensuring families are involved in these critical decisions, Oregon law allows minors as young as 15 to undergo an abortion or even sterilization without parental knowledge. School-Based Health Centers operate under privacy standards that make oversight nearly impossible, leaving parents in the dark about the care their children are receiving. Though School-Based Health Centers provide many well-intended services, Oregon’s current law makes it further an issue that cannot be ignored by pro-life voters.

Though they do not pass laws, school board members have a crucial role in shaping the education our children receive. School boards hire and oversee the superintendent, approve or reject contracts for school-based health centers, guide the vision and priorities of the district, and more. School boards are often bound to laws made at the state level, but by electing pro-life school board members, we can ensure there are voices advocating for parental involvement and transparency in our students’ education and School-Based health care.

Governor Tina Kotek has outwardly expressed access to abortion and gender-affirming care as a core value and has committed to its expansion; this includes in our schools. If pro-life voters fail to engage in school board elections, they risk allowing Oregon’s education system to deepen its alignment with the abortion industry, further sidelining parents and endangering vulnerable
students.