Dems protest Smith abortion record, Pataki visit

PORTLAND – A handful of demonstrators were outside the Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland Monday night to protest U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith’s (R-Pendleton) stance on abortion rights.

The protestors held signs warning Portlanders of Smith’s record and passed out extra copies of a mailer the Democratic Party of Oregon sent out last week detailing Smith’s votes that endanger a woman’s right to choose. The DPO said those votes range from support for conservative judges to votes that would criminalize abortion even if the health of the mother was at stake.

“If Gordon Smith has his way, he would outlaw a woman’s right to choose,” DPO spokesman Marc Siegel said at the protest.

A fundraiser featuring a pro-choice Republican, former New York Gov. George Pataki, seemed like an odd time to bring up the abortion issue, but Siegel said the protest was more for the Oregonians walking around outside the hotel than for the crowd gathered inside. Siegel pointed out that Oregon gets an “A” from NARAL Pro-Choice America because Oregonians, unlike Smith, are very pro-choice.

“Gordon Smith is out of step with Oregon’s values,” Siegel said.

According to Oregon Republican Party spokeswoman Brianne Hyder, the fundraiser featuring Pataki was to be a small intimate affair.  It was closed to the press.